i  UBRARV  ; 

OF  THE  i 

UNIV^pg^^^  lji8(0®ENTS 


NEW  REVISED  EDITION 


Rand  M-  Nally  Co's 

If  Pictorial  Guide 

m  TO  THE  CITY  OF 


ISIIY  OF  IU.IWOIS 


J.  F.  JARVIS,  Sole  Agent,  Washington,  D.  C 


135  Penna.  Ave.,  N.  W, 
1429  Penna.  Ave.,  N.  W. 


TRADK  MARK 


*‘Merode  ” 

(H and-Fznzsked) 

Underwear. 

These  two  brands  are 
known  by  more  people  than  all 
others  advertised.  No  trav-- 
eler  that  values  comfort  can 
afford  to  be  without  them. 
Quality  is  represented  at  its 
best  in  every  grade  and  price. 
Sold  at  good  stores  everywhere. 

By  common  consent  superiority  is  conceded  in 
Fabric  Quality  and  Wear  to  these  two  well 
advertised  honest  brands.  Ask  the  leading 
dealer  wherever  you  may  be  or  write  us  for 
catalogue. 

Wholesale  Distributors 

Lord  £#  Taylor  New  York 


f 


■  .  uBRARif 

/  f  !  Of  THE 

'  %  UNIVERSITY  Of  IIUN0I8 


t 

V 


The  RAND-McNALLY 


NSW  COMMERCIAL  ATLAS  MAP  OF 


UuunJ  n»ui^ 


WASHINGTON 

D.  C. 


oi.E:rwoop 

CEMETERY 


EXPLANATIOX 


STREET  CAR  LINES  — 
SCALE 
EUIu. 


.|8ir«Uar<l' 


OscoH, 


OBS£BlATX)RT 


OAK  UILL  CEM. 


CoOlvMOWD 


faifryi  Whurt 


KATiUNAI.  rKimKUY' 


(»r  thr  tuuBf 


WOODWARD  &  LOTHROP 


lOth,  11th,  F  and  G  Streets,  N.  W. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


IMPORTERS  AND  RETAILERS 

Millinery,  High  Class  Dress  Materials,  Outer  and  Under-Garments 
and  Dress  Accessories  for  Men,  Women  and  Children;  Paris  Lingerie, 

Bridal  Trousseaux,  Corsets,  Infants’  Outfittings;  Household  Goods; 

Books,  Stationery,  Card  Engraving;  Paris,  Vienna  and  Berlin  Novel¬ 
ties,  Sterling  Silver  Articles,  Lamps,  Clocks,  Bronzes,  Cut-Glass,  China. 

EVERY  CONVENIENCE  FOR  VISITORS 

Reception,  Rest,  Writing  and  Retiring  Rooms.  Telephone  and 
Telegraph  Stations.  Bureau  of  Information.  Post  Office. 

Room  for  Free  Checking  Parcels,  etc. 

Cafe  :  Luncheon,  11:30  A.M.  to  3  P.M.  Afternoon  Tea,  3  to  5:30  P.M. 
SOUVENIRS  AND  POST-CARDS  IN  GREAT  VARIETY 


MAIL  ORDERS  GIVEN  PROMPT  ATTENTION 


mis»6' 


INTERIOR  OF  JARVIS*  SOUVENIR  STORE. 

THE  PEACE  in  Washington 

to  buy  SOUVENIRS  of  all  descriptions,  embracing  all  the  newest  novelties: 


RAND-McNALLY’S  GUIDE  BOOKS  and  Maps  of  Cities  and  States. 

PHOTOGRAPHIC  VIEWS  OF  WASHINGTON.  All  sizes,  mounted  and  unmounted. 

SOUVENIR  POSTAL  CARDS  AND  POSTAL  CARD  ALBUMS.  The  most  complete  collection 
In  Washington. 

We  have  for  sale  every  variety  of  Sterling  Silver  Souvenir  Spoons  of  Washington  that  is  manu¬ 
factured.  Price  from  25  cents  to  $5.00. 

SOUVENIR  STERLING  SILVER  AND  PLATED  GOODS  in  large  varieties,  suitableifor  presents, 
from  a  Stick  Pin  to  the  most  elaborate  Toilet  Sets. 


Of  SOUVENIR  CHINA  we  have  the  largest  assortment,  including  the  latest  and  most  select  patterns  the 
European  and  Oriental  markets  can  supply.  We  Import  direct.  You  will  find  here  souvenirs  of  all 
descriptions,  both  useful  and  elegant. 

Visitors  can  purchase  here  at  most  reasonable  prices  presents  to  suit  every  taste.  Clocks,  Watches, 
Jewelry,  Inkstands,  Thermometers,  Knives,  Scissors,  Paper  Knives,  Match  Safes,  Napkin  Kings, 
Pen  Trays,  Pin  Trays,  Fans,  Washable  Pillow  Tops  with  Photographic  Views,  Paper  Weights,  etc. 

OUR  FANCY  LEATHER  GOODS  DEPARTMENT  ia  stocked  with  the  la^pst  and  most  unique 
designs  manufactured. 


Our  assortment  comprises  the  largest,  latest,  and  most  complete  line  of  gifts  in  Washington. 

PHOTOGRAPHIC  SUPPLIES  AND  OUTFITS  of  all  descriptions.  Amateur  work  executed 
promptly,  carefully,  and  cheaply. 


J.  F.  JARVIS 


TWO  STORES 

135  Penna.  Avc.,  N.  W. 

1429  Penna.  Ave.,  N.  W. 


WASHINGTON.  ©•  C. 


J.  r.  JARVIS 


TWO  STORELS 

135  Pcnna.  Ave.,  N.  W. 

1429  Pcnna.  Ave.,  N.  W. 


We  have  a  large 
stock  of  Kodaks! 
and  Accesso¬ 
ries,  Films, 
Plates,  and^ 
Papers. 


w. 


develop, 
print,  copy 
and  enlarge 
from  prints  and 
negatives  at  reason-’ 
able  prices  and  guar¬ 
antee  the  finest  work 
possible.  Kvery  atten¬ 
tion  and  information  given 
to  Amateur  Photographers 
visiting  Washington. 


Everything  the 
Professional  or 
Amateur  uses 
in  the  Pho¬ 
tographic 
Line. 


Ardmore 


13  th  Street,  Between 
Pennsylvania  Avenue 
and  F  Street,  N.  W. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Take  F  Street,  Mount  Pleasant  or  Pennsylvania  Avenue  Car 


From  Union  Station  to  13th  Street 


’PHONE,  MAIN  1950 


Above  picture  was  taken  from  tower  of  the  General  Post  Office  Building, 
looking  West  up  Pennsylvania  Ave.,  to  show  the  ideal  location  of  *‘The  Ardmore*’ 

A  modern  family  hotel,  all  large,  outside  rooms,  newly  furnished  and 
steam  heated  throughout;  free  baths,  bell  and  porter  service.  Located  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  convenient  to  all  points  of  interest  and  places  of  amuse¬ 
ment.  Table  first-class  and  abundant;  home-cooking.  We  are  especially 
catering  to  the  wants  of  the  sight-seeing  and  traveling  public.  You  can 
have  all  the  comforts  of  home  here,  and  will  be  shown  every  courtesy. 

All  information  regarding  public  buildings  cheerfully  furnished  by 

F.  C  Jackson,  Proprietor 

RATES 

European,  $1.00  to  $2.00  -  -  American,  $1.50  to  $2.50 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  An  Introduction  to  Washington .  11 

Railways,  Cabs,  Streets,  Etc .  11 

District  Government . .  .  .  .  14 

II.  A  Tour  of  the  Capitol . . .  15 

III.  The  Library  of  Congress . . .  45 

IV.  On  Capitol  Hill . . .  79 

V.  From  the  Capitol  to  the  White  House .  85 

VI.  At  the  Executive  Mansion .  91 

VII.  The  Executive  Departments .  99 

VIII.  From  the  Monument  to  the  Museums  .  .  . . 115 

The  Washington  Monument . .  .  .  115 

Some  Scientific  Departments . 119 

IX.  The  Corcoran  and  other  Art  Galleries  129 

X.  Churches,  Clubs,  Theaters,  Etc.  .  . . 135 

XL  Official  Etiquette  at  the  Capital . 139 

XH.  Streets,  Squares,  and  Residences  ,  .  . . .  .  143 

XHI.  Excursions  about  Washington . 159 

1.  To  Mount  Vernon . l  ')9 

2.  To  Arlington  National  Cemetery  and  Fort  Meyer .  172 

3.  To  Fort  Myer . .  .  .  178 

4.  To  Falls  Church,  Virginia . 179 

5.  To  the  Soldiers’  Home,  Rock  Creek  Church,  Fort  Stevens,  Battle 

and  National  Cemeteries,  Catholic  Universit}',  and  Brookland  .  183 

6.  To  the  “Zoo,”  Rock  Creek  National  Park,  and  Chevy  Chase  .  188 

7.  Georgetown  and  its  Vicinity . 189 

8.  Georgetown  to  Tennallytown  and  Glen  Echo . 191 

9.  Georgetown  to  Glen  Echo,  Cabin  John,  and  Great  Falls  .  .  .  192 

10.  To  Bladensburg  and  Kendall  Green . 194 

11.  To  Annapolis  and  Baltimore . 194 

12.  To  Benning  and  Chesapeake  Beach . 194 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  CO.’S 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE 

TO 

WASHINGTON 


Inci.uding  Complete  Descriptions  of  the  Capitol,  Library  of 
Congress,  White  House,  the  Departments,  Mount  Vernon. 
Arlington,  and  All  Other  Points  of  Interest. 


THE  LIBRARy  OF  THE 
APR  15  1932 

UNIVERSITY  Of  ILLINOIS. 


BRONZE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  ON  DOME  OF  CAPITOL. 


Illustrations  from  Recent  Photographs,  together  with  Maps, 
Plans,  etc..  Prepared  Especially  for  the  Work. 


Chicago  and  New  York: 

RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS, 

1913 


Copyright,  1900,  by  Rand  McNally  Company 

Copyright,  1901,  by  Rand  McNally  Company  _  ,  ,  _ 

Oopyright,  1902,  by  Rand  McNally  Company  H  E  OAi  I 

Copyright.  1903,  by  Rand  McNally  Company  •  •  •  >- 

Copyright,  1904,  by  Rand  McNally  Company 
Copyright,  1907,  by  Rand  McNally  Company 
Copyright,  1908,  by  Rand  McNally  Company 


EAST  FRONT. 


HOTEL  CHELSEA 

West  Twenty- third  Street 
NEW  YORK 


Restaurant  a  la  carte  and  table  d’hote.  Club  breakfasts. 

Absolutely  Fireproof,  as  evidenced  by  its  rate  of  fire  insurance,  one-fifth  of 
one  per  cent.,  the  lowest  of  any  New  York  hotel 

Room,  with  adjoining  bath  .....  $1.50 

Room,  with  private  bath  ......  2.00 

Suites — Parlor,  bedroom  and  bath  .....  3.50 

and  upward 

All  Outside  Rooms 

Three  Minutes  from  New  Pennsylvania  Station.  Ten  Minutes  from  Grand 
Central  Station.  Nearest  hotel  to  the  23rd  Street  Railroad  Terminals  of 
Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Lackawanna,  Erie,  Reading,  Central  Railroad  of  N.  J.,  and 
to  New  Chelsea  and  adjacent  piers  of  the  principal  Transatlantic  Steamship 
lines.  One  minute  from  Hudson  River  Tube  connecting  with  railway  lines 
entering  Jersey  City  and  Hoboken  and  Steamship  piers  at  Hoboken. 

COLOURED  Map  of  New  York  City  sent  upon  application. 


V7‘S3 

11(3 


1. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  WASHINGTON. 


J 


0 

J 

rO 

o 


THE  NEW  UNION  RAILWAY  STATION 


The  new  Union  Railway  Station  built  by  the  Pennsylvania  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad  Companies  at  the  cost  ol‘  ^20,000,000  is  northeast  of  the  Captitol  on  Massachu¬ 
setts  Avenue  as  shown  on  map  in  back  of  Guide.  Street  cars  may  be  taken  here  f^r  any 
part  of  the  city.  Baggage  transferred,  and  carriages,  electric  cabs,  and  busses  will  be 
found  in  waiting. 

The  Steamboat  Landing  for  all  Potomac  boats  and  ferries  — Norfolk,  Mount 
Vernon,  Alexandria,  etc.,  is  at  the  foot  of  Seventh  Street.  Steam¬ 
boat  leaves  for  Fort  Monroe  and  Norfolk  every  evening  at  6.30.  Steamboats. 

The  street-car  system  of  the  city  is  extensive  and  convenient.  All 
the  principal  lines  are  operated  on  the  underground  electric  trolley  system,  and  all 
are  controlled  by  either  the  Capital  Traction  Company  or  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Company’s  System.  Each  transfers  from  line  to  line  of  its  own  system. 

Three  lines  of  the  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company  and  three  lines 
of  the  Capital  Traction  Company  pass  the  Union  Railway  Station,  going  direct  to  the 
Capitol,  Georgetown,  Mount  Pleasant,  and  the  eastern  section  of  the 
City.  By  means  of  the  liberal  transfer  system  in  force  almost  any  Street  Cars, 
point  in  the  city  may  be  reached  upon  the  payment  of  a  single  fare. 


8  I  4368 


12 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  AVASTIINGTOX. 


The  Seventh  and  Ninth  Street  lines  run  from  the  Arsenal  and  steamboat  wharves 
north  to  the  boundary,  where  they  connect  with  the  Brightwood  lines  for  the 
Soldiers’  Home,  Brightwood,  Takoma,  the  new  Marine  Hospital  and  other  suburbs 
to  Forest  Glen,  eight  miles  from  the  Treasury.  A  line  along  U  Street  connects 
the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  street  lines,  and  extends  to  the  boundary  at  Rock 
Creek,  where  it  connects  with  the  cars  for  Zoological  Park  and  Chevy  Chase.  The 
Chevy  Chase  cars  also  come  directly  to  the  Treasury  during  all  hours  of  the  day. 
The  above  lines  are  operated  by  the  Capital  Traction  Company  and  the  Washing¬ 
ton  Railway  &  Electric  Company. 

The  Georgetown  Line  extends  from  Georgetown  along  O  Street,  Dumbarton 
Avenue,  P  Street,  Connecticut  Avenue,  H  Street,  Fourteenth,  and  F  Streets  to 
Capitol  Hill  where  it  skirts  the  northern  and  eastern  sides  of  the  Capitol  Grounds, 
passes  the  Library  of  Congress,  and  thence  eastward  beyond  Lincoln 
Suburban  Park  to  Fifteenth  Street  east. 

|^iii0g.  This  is  popularly  known  as  the  F  Street  Line.  At  Georgetown  it 

connects  with  a  line  up  the  Potomac  Valley  to  Cabin  John  Bridge, 
where  carriages  may  be  taken  to  Great  Falls,  and  also  one  to  Tenallytown  and 
Rockville.  This  company  also  controls  the  Connecticut  Avenue  line  to  Mount 
Pleasant;  the  Eleventh  Street,  Ninth  Street  and  Brightwood  lines;  two  lines  pene¬ 
trating  the  Northeastern  quarter,  one  of  which  extends  through  Benning  to  the 
District  line  and  connects  with  a  steam  railroad  for  Chesapeake  Beach;  also  a 
branch  line  for  Kenilworth,  D.  C.,  and  the  two  suburban  lines  northeastward,  one 
reaching  Brookland,  and  the  other  Hyattsville,  Bladensburg,  Riverdale,  and  other 
villages  to  Laurel,  Md.  Also  with  the  new  electric  line  to  Baltimore  and  Annapolis, 
Md.  ’  All  of  these  exchange  transfers. 

Fare  everywhere  within  the  district,  5  cents;  and  six  tickets  are  sold  for  25  cents, 
good  upon  all  lines.  A  line  of  herdics  also  runs  upon  Fifteenth  Street,  which  ex¬ 
changes  transfers  with  the  F  Street  line  at  the  corner  of  H  and  Fifteenth  Streets. 

Hacks  and  cabs  are  m  merous,  and  not  expensive,  and  the  authorized  rates  are 
as  follows : 

One- Horse  Vehicles.  By  the  trip — Day  rates,  between  5  a.  m.  and  12  30  a.  m.,  each 
passenger,  fifteen  squares  or  less,  50  cents;  each  additional  five  squares  or  parts  of 
squares,  15  cents.  Midnight  rates,  between  12.30  a.  m.  and  5  a.  m  ,  each 
Public  passenger  fifteen  squares  or  less,  60  cents;  each  additional  five  squares 

Carriagres.  or  parts  of  squares,  20  cents.  By  the  hour  — Day  rates,  one  or  two 

passengers,  first  hour,  $1.00;  each  additional  quarter  hour  or  part 
thereof,  25  cents;  three  or  four  passengers,  first  hour,  $1.25;  each  additional  quarter 
hour  or  part  thereof,  30  cents.  Midnight  rates  about  double  these. 

Tvoo-llovse  Vehicles.  About  double  the  rates  for  one-horse  cabs.  The  law  says  that 
when  vehicles  are  not  engaged  by  the  hour,  trip  rates  shall  be  charged;  but  when 
charges  for  consecutive  trips  exceed  rates  per  hour,  charges  shall  be  by  the  hour. 

Both  the  Pennsylvan.a  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  radway  companies  maintain  a  system 
of  cabs  and  automobiles  intended  especially  for  persons  going  to  and  from  their  trains, 
but  available  for  general  services. 

An  alphabetical  list  of  hotels  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book,  page  105. 

Restaurants  have  multiplied  and  improved  inW ashington  during  the  last  ten  years. 
Since  the  disappearance  of  Wormley ’s  and  Welcker’s,  the  oldest,  best,  and  most  cele¬ 
brated  Cafe  and  Restaurant  in  Washington  is  “Harvey’s,  ”  located  for 
Hotels  and  50  years  corner  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  11th  Street,  N.  W. ,  convenient 
Restaurants,  to  business  center,  hotels,  and  public  buildings.  This  house  and  the 


INTRODUCTION  TO  WASHINGTON. 


13 


original  cuisine,  and  oyster,*  game,  and  terrapin  specialties.  This  and  the  Shoreham, 
Gordon,  and  Raleigh  are  favorite  resorts  for  after-the-theatre  suppers  On  F,  G,  Ninth, 
Seventh,  and  other  streets  in  the  region  near  the  public  buildings,  are  a  large  number  of 
dairies,  bakeries,  ice-cream  saloons,  and  eating-places  of  every  grade,  resorted  to  by 
government  clerks,  men  and  women,  high  and  low.  Dining-rooms  are  numerous  on  the 
avenue  and  in  Georgetown.  The  restaurants  in  the  Capitol  are  good,  especially  that  in 
the  Senate  basement,  and  there  are  good  ones  at  the  Library  of  Congress  and  National 
Museum. 

Professional  boarding-houses,  often  with  the  names  and  pretensions  of  “hotels,”  are 
plentiful,  particularly  in  the  region  north  of  the  avenue,  between  Third  and  Fourteenth 
streets,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pension  Building  ;  and  this 
quarter  also  abounds  in  private  houses  renting  rooms  and  perhaps  fur-  Boarding- 

nishing  board.  All  these  are  indicated  by  small  signs  displayed  at  the  hoUSCS. 

door  or  in  a  window.  The  best  plan  for  a  person  desiring  such  quarters 
is  to  walk  about,  observe  these  signs,  and  ex  .mine  what  suits  him.  A  man  and  his 
wife  can  get  very  comfortable  lodging  and  board  for  .$40  to  |60  a  month. 

The  shops  of  Washington  are  extensive  and  fine.  The  principal  shopping  streets  are 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Seventh,  Ninth,  F,  and  G  streets,  between  Ninth 
and  Fourteenth  streets,  but  there  are  local  groups  of  stores,  especially  for  Shops, 

provisions,  on  Capitol  Hill,  in  Georgetown,  and  along  11  Street,  N.  E. 

The  District  of  Columbia  had  a  yeculiar  origin,  and  its  constitution  and  history 
account  for  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  present  capital  city.  The  first  Congress 
of  the  United  States  had  the  task  of  establishing  a  Federal  capital,  under 
a  plan  for  taking  in  some  small  tract  of  land  and  exercising  exclusive  Origin  of 
jurisdiction  over  it.  In  1790  a  bill  was  passed,  after  many  postpone-  District 

mcnts  and  much  hot  discussion,  accepting  from  the  States  of  IMaryland  of  Columbia, 
and  Virginia  a  tract  ten  miles  square  on  the  Potomac,  to  be  called  the 
District  of  Columbia;  but  in  1846  Virginia's  portion  —  some  thirty-six  square  miles 
south  of  the  river  —  was  ceded  back  to  her.  Three  Commissioners  were  appointed 
by  the  President  (Washington)  to  purchase  the  land  from  its  owners,  and  to  provide 
suitable  buildings  for  the  Government.  IMajor  Pierre  Charles  L’Enfant,  a  French 
engineer  who  had  fought  in  the  Revolution,  was  appointed  to  lay  out  the  cit}’,  but 
proved  so  irreconcilable  to  discipline  that  it  became  necessary  to  dismiss  him,  though 
his  plan  was  essentially  followed  by  Ellicott,  his  assistant,  who  succeeded  him. 

The  avenues  were  named  after  the  States,  and  in  a  certain  order.  By  reason  of  its 
midway  and  infiuential  position,  that  had  already  given  it  the  excellent  sobriquet 
“Keystone  State,”  Pennsylvania  was  entitled  to  the  name  of  the  great 
central  avenue.  The  avenues  south  of  this  received  the  names  of  the  Arrangement 
Southern  States  ;  the  avenues  which  crossed  Pennsylvania  were  named  of  Streets, 
after  the  Middle  States,  Maryland,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York; 
while  the  New  England  States  were  left  to  designate  the  avenues  then  regarded  as 
remote  possibilities  among  the  swamps  and  hills  of  the  northwest.  The  curious  way 
in  which  the  capital  has  developed  along  the  lines  of  the  last-named  group  is  t^^pical 
of  the  growth  and  change  in  the  balance  of  the  whole  country  since  L'Eufant’s  day. 

The  rectilinear  streets  run  exactly  north  and  south  and  east  and  west.  The  streets 
running  east  and  west  are  known  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  so  we  have  North  A 
and  South  A,  North  B  and  South  B,  and  so  on  ;  at  right  angles  to  the  alphabetical 
streets  are  the  streets  bearing  numbers,  and  beginning  their  house  enumeration  at 
a  line  running  due  north  and  south  through  the  Capitol.  This  divides  the  city  into 
four  quarters.  Northwest,  Northeast,  Southeast,  and  Southwest,  each  with  its  own  set 
of  numbers  for  the  houses,  arranged  upon  the  decimal  system  —  that  is,  100  numbers 


14 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


for  each  block.  This  is  repealed  in  a  direction  away  from  each  of  the  Capitol  streets: 
all  addresses,  therefore,  should  bear  the  added  designation  of  the  quarter  by  its 
initials — N.  W.,  N.  E.,  S,  E.,  or  S.  W.  In  this  book,  as  nearly  everything  mentioned 
is  in  the  Northwest  Quarter,  these  initials  are  uniformly  omitted  for  that  quarter,  but 
are  always  supplied  elsewhere. 

In  1800  the  seat  of  Government  was  established  in  Washington  City,  which  was 
first  so  called,  it  is  said,  by  the  Commissioners  in  1791.  The  General  himself,  who 
was  its  most  active  promoter,  always  spoke  of  it  as  the  Federal  City. 
Early  The  town  was  all  in  the  woods,  and  had  only  3,000  inhabitants,  mostly 

History.  living  in  the  northwestern  quarter,  or  on  Capitol  Hill.  Nevertheless 

it  grew  until  1814,  when,  after  a  weak  resistance  at  Bladensburg,  it  was 
captured  by  the  British,  who  set  fire  to  the  public  buildings  and  some  private  resi¬ 
dences,  intending  to  destroy  the  town  altogether.  A  hurricane  of  wind  and  rain 
came  that  night  to  complete  the  destruction  in  some  respects,  but  this  extinguished 
the  conflagration.  Next  day  ihe  British  left  in  a  panic  of  causeless  fear,  excepting 
a  large  contingent  of  deserters,  who  took  this  opportunity  to  stay  behind  and  “grow 
up  with  the  country.”  The  city  was  immediately  rebuilt,  and  in  18G0  it  contained 
61,000  inhabitants.  Wh  n  the  Civil  War  was  over,  the  city  found  itself  with  an 
enlarged  population  and  a  vastly  greater  importance. 

The  population  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  including  the  city,  is  now  about  350,000, 
and  it  is  steadily  growing  The  Federal  Government,  in  lieu  of  assessed  taxes,  con¬ 
tributes  one-half  of  all  the  District’s  expenses,  and  practically  has  done 
Population.  much  more  than  that  in  the  form  of  public  grounds,  boulevards,  and 
reservations  free  to  the  public,  and  maintained  at  the  public  expense. 

The  relations  of  the  District  and  Federal  City  to  the  Union  are  very  peculiar.  After 
several  experiments  in  municipal  government.  Congress  created  a  form  of  administra¬ 
tion  of  District  and  city  affairs,  which  consists  simply  of  two  civilian 
District  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  President,  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate, 

Government,  and  one  army  engineer  officer  detailed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  three 
constituting  a  Board  of  Commissioners  for  three  years.  They  are 
empowered  by  Congress  to  make,  and  change  at  will,  building,  health,  and  police  regu¬ 
lations  They  also  appoint  all  subordinate  officials  and  clerks. 

They  are  required  to  make  and  submit  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  annual  esti¬ 
mates  for  all  the  expenditures  within  the  District  for  the  ensuing  year.  One-half  of  the 
amount  to  be  raised  is  assessed  upon  the  District,  the  other  half  is  appropriated  by 
Congress.  The  headquarters  of  District  affairs  is  in  the  New  Municipal  Building  at 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  14th  Street.  The  District  courts,  except  the  Police  Court, 
are  in  the  City  Hall,  an  old  building  in  Judiciary  Square,  facing  Four-and-a-half  Street, 
where  the  Marshal  and  certain  other  functionaries  also  have  offices.  It  was  in  this  edifice, 
built  for  the  courthouse,  that  Garfield’s  assassin,  Guiteau,  was  tried,  and  other  noted 
cases  have  been  heard  there.  In  front  of  it,  upon  a  marble  column,  stands  a  monument 
of  Lincoln  carved  by  Lot  Flannery,  who  has  been  described  as  a  “self-taught  sculptor.” 


II. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


WEST  VIEW  OF  CAPITOL. 

The  great  advantage  that  Washington  enjoys  in  having  been  intelligently  platted 
before  any  building  of  consequence  had  begun,  is  signally  shown  in  the  choice  of  this 
central  and  sightly  hilltop  as  the  position  of  the  Capitol.  The  grounds 
in  front  of  the  building  were  made  perfectly  level,  but  in  the  rear  they  Capitol 

sloped  downward  some  eighty  feet  to  the  Botanical  Gardens.  The  present  Grounds, 
arrangement  of  the  park  dates  from  1874,  when  it  was  enlarged  to  its 
present  enclosure  of  forty-six  acres,  and  beautified  by  the  late  Frederick  Law  Olmstcad. 
The  splendid  marble  terraces  on  the  western  side  of  the  building,  and  their  ornamental 
approaches,  together  costing  $200,000,  are  a  part  of  the  general  scheme  of  outdoor  deco¬ 
ration,  which  each  year  becomes  more  admirable  as  the  trees  and  shrubberies  mature. 
A  pretty  feature  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the  park  is  the  ivy-covered  rest-house, 
one  window  of  which  looks  into  a  grotto.  The  low  stone  towers,  becoming  vine- 
covered  in  the  western  parts  of  the  park  are  the  orifices  through  which  is 
drawn  the  supplj'^  of  fresh  air  for  the  ventilation  of  the  Senate  chamber 
and  hall  of  Representatives.  Immediately  in  front  (east)  of  the  Capitol  is  the 
greenhouse  may  be  seen  certain  tropical  plants  brought  home  by  the  Wilkes  and  Perry 

15 


16 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Plaza,  where  vast  crowds  assemble  to  witness  presidential  inaugurations,  and  here, 
facing  the  main  entrance,  stands  Greenough’s  statue  of  Washington,  sitting  in  a  curule 
chair  as  the  first  great  tribune  of  the  American  people. 

A  statue  of  Washington  was  ordered  by  Congress  in  1832,  to  signalize  the  centennial 
anniversary  of  his  birth.  The  commission  was  given  to  Horatio  Greenough,  who  was 
then  residing  in  Florence,  Italy,  the  only  restriction  upon  the  execution 
Greenough’s  of  his  plan  being  that  it  should  not  be  equestrian,  and  that  the  counte- 
Statue  of  nance  should  conform  to  that  of  the  Houdon  statue.  His  price  of  |20,- 

Washington.  000  was  accepted,  and  he  devoted  the  principal  part  of  his  time  for  eight 
years  to  its  completion.  The  intention  was  to  place  this  statue  in  the 
center  of  the  rotunda,  over  the  mausoleum  provided  for  Washington  in  the  undercroft ; 
but  by  the  time  it  was  completed  and  had  been  brought  here  in  a  special  ship  (1841),  the 
idea  of  placing  the  bones  of  Washington  in  the  Capitol  had  been  abandoned,  and  it  was 
decided  to  leave  it  out-of-doors.  This  statue,  which  is  covered  from  the  weather  in 
winter  and  invisible,  is  of  Carrara  marble,  and  represents,  in  heroic  size,  the  Father 
of  his  Country  in  a  Roman  toga,  which  has  slipped  from  his  shoulders,  lifting  a  hand  of 
warning  and  advice  to  the  nation.  As  a  work  of  art,  it  has  caused  great  controversy 
among  people  of  taste.  It  is  probable  that  we  know  too  much  of  Washington  as  a  man 
—  he  is  too  near  to  us  —  to  make  an  attempt  at  classic  idealization  of  him  seem  natural  or 
pleasing. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  July  9,  1790,  which  established  the  District  of  Columbia  as 
the  National  Capital,  provided  that  prior  to  the  first  ^londay  of  December,  1800,  the 
Commissioners  should  have  fiuished  a  suitable  building  for  the  sessions  of  Congress. 
When  the  Commissioners  had  accepted  L’Enf ant’s  plan  for  the  city,  they  found  this  hill 
selected  by  him  as  the  site  of  the  national  legislative  halls,  and  as  soon  as 
Beginnings  the  Commissioners  could  accumulate  money  enough  from  their  land  sales 
of  the  to  make  a  respectable  showing,  they  began  the  erection  of  the  two  build- 

Capitol.  ings  first  needed  —  the  Executive  Mansion  and  the  Congressional  halls 

and  offices,  which  at  Jefferson’s  suggestion,  it  is  said,  came  to  be  called 
the  Capitol.  One  of  the  interesting  features  of  early  life  at  the  seat  of  Government  is 
the  degree  to  which  formal  classics  ruled  in  taste.  The  corner-stones  were  laid  with 
Masonic  rites  and  all  possible  parade,  George  W ashington  officiating.  October  13,  1792, 
was  the  date  at  the  President’s  House  ;  but  the  corner-stone  of  the  Capitol  (marked  in 
1895  bj''  a  bronze  plate)  was  not  laid  until  September  18,  1793.  Materials  were  slow  and 
uncertain,  and  had  not  Virginia  and  Maryland  advanced  the  money  Congress  refused, 
the  work  would  have  stopped  altogether.  The  town  was  yet  only  a  muddy  village  in 
the  woods  ;  and  the  Commissioners  had  to  fight  opposition  and  obstacles  at  every  step. 
Nevertheless  an  edifice,  such  as  it  was,  was  ready  for  the  Government,  which  came  from 
Philadelphia,  bag  and  baggage,  in  a  single  sloop,  and  took  possession  during  Octo¬ 
ber,  1800. 

Whose  was  the  plan  has  excited  much  controversy,  for  several  minds  contributed. 
The  original  sketch  came  from  Doctor  Thornton,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  and  then 
in  charge  of  the  Patent  Office,  and  so  pleased  Washington  that  it  was 
Plan  and  adopted.  The  plans  were  redrawn  by  Stephen  H.  Hallett,  who  Avas  a 
Architects.  student  of  Nash,  the  most  famous  house-builder  of  his  time.  Hoban, 
the  architect  of  the  White  House,  and  others  made  suggestions,  so  that 
Thornton’s  plan  was  much  modified  ;  still  less  did  it  foreshadow  the  Capitol  of  to-day. 

Only  the  north  wing,  or  that  part  of  the  main  building  containing  the  present 
Supreme  Court  rooms,  was  finished  in  1800,  the  opposite  wing  not  being  ready  until 
1811.  V  A  wooden  passageway  connected  them  across  the  space  now  occupied  by  the 
basement  of  the  rotunda.  The  expenditure  up  to  that  time  had  been  $787,000.  When, 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


17 


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32.  Office  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate. 


18 


PICTOEIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


in  1814,  the  British  captured  the  city,  they  entered  the  legislative  halls,  held  a  mock 
session  of  Congress,  and  soon  the  building  was  in  flames.  In  1815  Congress  authorized 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  borrow  $500,000  to  begin  repairs  (for  the  walls  stood), 
and  in  1818  undertook  the  erection  of  the  central  part.  B.  H.  Latrobe  took  the  archi¬ 
tectural  superintendence  of  the  restoration,  while  the  new  central  structure  was  planned 
and  supervised  by  Charles  Bulfinch.  The  original  building  was  completed  in  1827,  at  a 
cost,  including  the  grading  of  the  grounds,  repairs,  etc.,  of  not  quite  $2,500,000  A  fire 
in  the  library  compelled  the  rebuilding  of  the  western  front  in  1851,  when  additions  were 
made,  and  the  same  year  the  corner-stones  of  the  extensions,  now  known 
Cost.  as  the  House  and  Senate  wings,  were  laid  ;  but  these  were  not  completed 

until  1859  (at  a  cost  of  nearly  $9,000,000).  Meanwhile  the  low  wooden 
dome  which  had  temporarily  covered  the  rotunda  was  removed  in  1856,  and  the  erection 
of  the  present  iron  dome  was  begun. 

Add  to  the  sums  above  noted  a  million  dollars  for  additional  space  for  the  grounds 
and  the  obtaining  of  water,  two  millions  for  improvements  of  the  grounds  and  terraces, 
another  million  for  repairs  and  improvements  on  the  building  itself,  and  various  other 
items,  and  the  cost  of  the  Capitol  approaches  $15,000,000. 

The  original  and  proper  front  of  the  Capitol  is  the  eastern,  and  the  city  has  grown 
behind  rather  than  before  the  statehouse  of  the  nation,  as  it  was  expected  to  do. 
This  contingency  has  been  met  by  improvements  at  the  rear  of  the  building  to 
increase  the  stateliness  of  its  approaches,  so  that  the  Capitol  now  has  two  faces,  different 
but  substantially  equal  in  merit.  The  western  front,  although  on  the  side  from  which 
most  visitors  approach,  requires  a  long,  toilsome  climbing  of  terraces  and  steps;  whereas 
the  street  cars  carry  passengers  to  the  level  of  the  basement  on  the  south  side,  and  on 
the  north  side  almost  to  the  very  entrance.  It  is  therefore  easier,  as  well  as  more  proper, 
to  begin  one’s  survey  of  the  great  structure  at  the  architect’s  original  front  door. 

This  eastern  front  is  imposing  from  every  standpoint.  One  of  the  most  satis¬ 
factory  views  of  it  is  that  obtained  from  the  little  car-passengers’  shelter  on  the  north 
side  of  the  grounds.  The  massive  and  classic  proportions  of  the  Senate 
East  Front.  wing  are  near  at  hand,  and  its  ornamental  front  cuts  deeply  into  the 
dome,  whose  supports  sink  away  in  grand  perspective  to  the  Representa¬ 
tive  wing,  while  the  majestic  dome  itself  rises  tier  upon  tier  of  columns  and  circling 
architraves  to  its  convergent  roof  and  statue-crowned  tholus.  There  is  a  wonderful 
feeling  of  breadth  and  grandeur,  yet  of  buoyancy,  in  this  oblique  aspect  of  t>ie  noble 
pile  —  all  sunny  white,  save  the  color  in  the  folds  of  the  flag. 

The  Capitol  is  751  feet  long,  350  feet  in  greatest  width,  and  covers  nearly  four  acres 
of  ground,  with  153,112  square  feet  of  floor  space.  It  is  155  feet  high  to  the  cornices  of 
the  main  roof,  or  288  feet  to  the  crest  of  the  Liberty  statue.  The  dome 
Style  and  is  of  iron,  weighs  nearly  nine  million  pounds,  and  was  completed  in  1865, 
Dimensions,  replacing  the  earlier  wooden  dome.  The  architecture  is  modified  Corin¬ 
thian  upon  a  rustic  base,  plus  a  dome,  and  the  material  of  the  older 
central  part  is  Virginia  (Aquia  Creek)  sandstone,  painted  white,  but  the  newer  wings 
are  built  of  Massachusetts  marble. 

In  front  of  the  building  stretches  a  broad  paved  plaza,  and  three  flights  of  broad 
steps  lead  up  the  central  entrance  and  to  each  wing,  lending  a  very  effective  appearance 
of  breadth  and  solidity  to  the  whole  mass,  whose  walls  are  largely  hidden 
Crawford’s  by  the  rows  of  monolithic,  fluted  columns  of  ]Maryland  marble  that 
Group.  sustain  the  three  broad  porticos.  The  porticos  of  the  wings  have  each 

twenty-two  columns,  and  ten  more  columns  on  each  of  their  northern 
and  western  fronts.  The  pediment  of  the  southern  wing,  which  contains  the  House  of 
Representatives,  has  no  statuary,  but  the  fa9ade  of  the  northern  wing,  where  the  Senate 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


19 


sits,  is  doubly  adorned.  The  tympanum  is  filled  with  an  immense  group  by  Thomas 
Crawford,  emblematic  of  American  progress,  which  has  displaced  the  Indians  with  the 
arts  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  industrial  production,  supported  by  the  sword.  This 

is  considered  the  chef-d’oeuvre  of  this 
talented  American  sculptor  and  will  repay 
careful  study.  Crawford  was  paid  $17, 000 
for  the  models,  and  the  cutting  of  the 
marble  (from  Lee,  Mass.)  by  several 
skilled  Italian  carvers  cost  $26,000  more. 

The  grand  central  portico,  which  dates 
from  1825,  is  160  feet  wide,  and  has 
twenty-four  columns  carrying  a  pediment 
of  80  feet  span  filled  with  an  allegorical 
group  cut  in  sandstone, 
after  a  design  by  John  Central 

Quincy  Adams  when  Sec-  Poftico. 

retary  of  State.  It  was 
executed  by  Luigi  Persico,  a  prominent 
Roman  sculptor,  who  had  many  commis¬ 
sions  here.  This  group  represents  the 
“  Genius  of  America.”  America,  armed 
is  resting  her  shield  upon  an  altar,  while 
an  eagle  perches  at  her  feet.  She  seems 
listening  to  Hope,  and  points  in  response 
to  Justice,  who  holds  the  Constitution, 
inscribed  September  17,  1787  (the  date  of 
its  adoption),  and  her  scales.  From  the 
level  of  the  portico  extend  two  great 
buttresses,  each  adorned  with  pieces  of 
colossal  statuary  in  marble.  That  upon 
the  south  side  represents  Columbus,  and 
is  entitled  “The  Discovery  of  America.” 
The  sculptor  was  Persico  (1846),  who 
exactly  copied  the  armor  from  a  suit  worn  by  Columbus,  yet  preserved  in  Genoa.  The 
opposite  group  (north)  is  by  Greenough,  and  represents  an  incident  of  frontier  life  as 
typical  of  “Civilization,  or  the  First  Settlement  of  America.”  Each  of  these  groups 
cost  $24,000. 

The  inauguration  of  Presidents  of  the  United  States  has  taken  place  upon  this  portico 
since  the  time  of  Jackson.  A  draped  staging  is  extended  outward  to  accommodate  the 
high  officials  who  form  a  part  of  the  ceremonial,  and  here  the  oath  of  office  is  adminis¬ 
tered  by  the  Chief  Justice  in  full  view  of  a  multitude  of  citizens. 

In  the  center  of  this  portico  is  the  great  Rogers  bronze  door  which  opens  directly  into 
the  rotunda  under  the  dome,  and  is  among  the  most  interesting  objects  at  the  Capitol. 
It  was  designed  in  Rome  in  1858  by  Randolph  Rogers,  who  received  $8,000  for  his 
plaster  models,  and  was  cast  in  Munich,  in  1861,  by  F.  Von  Muller,  who  was  paid 
$17,000  in  gold,  then  at  a  high  premium.  It  is  nineteen  feet  high  and  weighs  ten  tons. 

The  leaves  or  valves  of  the  door,  which  is  double,  stand  in  superbly 
enriched  casing,  and  when  opened  fold  back  into  fitting  jambs.  Each  RogfCrs 

leaf  is  divided  into  eight  panels,  in  addition  to  the  transom  panel  under  BfOnzC  Door. 
the  arch.  Each  panel  contains  a  complete  scene  in  alto-relievo.  The 
scenes  portrayed  constitute  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  Columbus  and  the 


GREENOUGH’S  “THE  RESCUE." 
Central  Portico. 


20 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


discovery  of  America,  with  an  ornate  enrichment  of  emblematic  designs.  On  the  key  of 
the  arch  of  the  casing  is  the  head  of  Columbus,  and  on  the  sides  of  the  casing  are  four 
typical  statuettes  in  niches  arranged  chronologically  — Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  and  America. 
The  remainder  of  the  casing  is  embellished  with  a  running  border  of  ancient  armor, 
banners,  and  heraldic  designs,  and  at  the  bottom,  on  either  side,  an  anchor,  all  in  l)asso- 
relievo,  and  emblematic  of  navigation  and  conquest.  On  the  frame  of  each  leaf  of  the 
door,  set  in  niches,  are  sixteen  statuettes  of  the  patrons  and  contemporaries  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  given  in  the  order  of  their  association  with  the  announcement  and  execution  of  his 
theory  of  geographical  exploration.  The  first  eight  figures  are  associated  in  pairs  when 
the  doors  are  closed,  and  divided  when  opened.  All  are  labeled.  The  sixteenth  is 
PizaiTO,  conqueror  of  Peru.  The  pane''s  illustrate  the  career  of  Columbus,  the  third 

scene  being  his  audience  at  the  court  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Between  the 
panels  are  a  series  of  heads,  representing 
the  historians  of  the  voyages  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  prominent  among  whom  are  Irving 
and  Prescott. 

Niches  on  each  side  of  this  imposing 
entrance  hold  statues  of  Mars  or  War  (on 
the  right  —  a  noble  figure  of  a  Roman 
warrior)  and  of  Ceres  or  Peace  (on  the 
‘  left  —  a  female  figure  with  flowers  and 
fruits)  modeled  by  Persico  and  costing 
together  $12,000;  while  above  the  door  is 
a  bust  of  Washington,  crowned  by  Fame 
and  Peace,  which  was  sculptured  by 
A.  Capellano  in  1827.  Capellano  is  not 
known  beyond  his  carvings  here. 

Passing  through  the  bronze  doors, 
we  enter  the  Rotunda.  It  occupies 
nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  center  of 
the  building,  and  is  unbroken  to  the 
summit  of  the  dome. 

It  is  96  feet  in  diameter  and  180 
feet  high  to  the  canopy.  Its  center  is 
the  center  of  the  Capitol.  The  pavement 
is  of  sandstone,  and  the  walls  are  plas¬ 
tered  and  broken  into  panels  by  engaged  pillars,  above  which  there  is  a  broad  entabla¬ 
ture.  This  is  surmounted  by  a  gallery  (which  has  as  good  a  ‘  ‘whispering” 
Rotunda.  echo  as  that  of  St.  Paul’s),  formed  of  Corinthian  columns  connected  by  a 
balustrade;  and  this  gallery  and  the  Rotunda  are  lighted  by  a  belt  of  large 
windows,  outside  of  which  is  the  circular  row  of  columns  that  form  the  external  visible 
supports  of  the  dome.  From  the  entablature  carried  upon  these  pillars  springs  the  con¬ 
cavity  of  the  dome,  arching  inward  to  an  opening  50  feet  in  diameter,  at  the  base  of  the 
lantern,  called  the  eye.  This  opening  is  encircled  by  a  gallery  and  canopied  by  a  painted 
ceiling,  consisting  of  a  circular  piece  of  iron,  covered  with  stucco,  65  feet  wide. 

In  the  vast  and  somewhat  obscure  space  of  this  immense  apartment  onh’  a  colossus,  like 
the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York  harbor,  would  seem  a  fitting  ornament.  It  was  pro¬ 
posed  to  cut  away  the  floor  in  the  center  and  erect  Greenough’s  figure  of  Washington, 
now  on  the  plaza,  upon  an  elevated  pedestal  approached  from  the  crypt ;  but  this  was 


THE  ROGERS  BRONZE  DOOR. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


21 


not  done,  and  all  attempts  at  decoration  have  been  confined  to  the  walls,  except  the 
placing  of  a  few  statues. 

Four  doors  open  out  of  the  Rotunda,  and  over  each  is  a  marble  panel  carved  in  high 
relief.  That  over  the  eastern,  or  main,  entrance  and  exit  is  by  Enrico  Causici  of  Verona,  a 
pupil  of  Canova,  and  represents  the  “Landing  of  the  Pilgrims”;  that  over 
the  northern  door  is  by  N.  Gevelot,  a  Frenchman,  and  pictures  William  RotUnda 
Penn  making  a  treaty  with  the  Delaware  Indians  ;  over  the  southern  door  Doors. 

is  another  group  by  Causici — “Daniel  Boone  in  Conflict  with  the  Indians” — 
in  which  Boone’s  face  was  copied  from  a  portrait  by  Hardinge,  and  over  the  western  door 


THE  LANDING  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  SAN  SALVADOR. —  Painting  by  John  Vanderlyn,  Rotunda, 


is  Capellano’s  “ Pocahontas  Saving  the  Life  of  John  Smith.”  These  sculptors  were  all 
men  who  worked  here  about  1827,  and  each  was  paid  $3,500. 

Each  of  the  lower  wall  spaces  carries  one  of  the  big  historical  paintings  (18  by  12  feet), 
familiar  to  everybody  through  innumerable  reproductions — even  upon  the  paper  cur¬ 
rency  and  Columbian  postage  stamps  of  the  Government.  All  are  by 
American  artists.  Each  has  attached  to  it  a  label  and  key-picture,  RotUnda 
giving  the  names  and  positions  of  all  the  persons  represented  by  carefully  Wall 

drawn  portraits  in  its  groups.  They  fall  into  two  classes — “Early  Paintings, 

historical”  and  “Revolutionary.”  The  former  are  to  a  great  degree 
imaginative,  particularly  the  DeSoto  ;  but  the  latter  are  accurately  true  to  the  times  and 
scenes  they  purport  to  represent.  In  the  first  class  is  the  “Landing  of  Columbus  at  San 
Salvador,”  in  1492,  painted  in  1839  by  Vanderlyn,  who  was  paid  $10,000  for  it  in  1842. 
The  “Discovery  of  the  Mississippi”  by  De  Soto,  in  1541,  was  painted  by  Wm.  IL 
Powell  in  1850,  and  the  price  was  $12,000.  The  “Baptism  of  Pocahontas”  at  James¬ 
town,  in  1613,  is  nearer  the  truth,  since  the  artist,  J.  G.  Chapman,  did  his  best  to 
represent  the  portraits  and  costumes  of  Rolfe,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  and  other  Virginian 
colonists  and  Indian  chieftains,  who  may  be  supposed  present  at  the  ceremony.  Its  cost 
was  $10,000,  and  its  date  is  1836.  The  last  of  this  colonial  series,  by  Professor  Weir. 


22 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


date  1840,  price  $10,000,  is  a  picture  of  the  farewell  service  on  board  the  unseaworthy 
Speedwell,  before  it  sailed  from  Delft  Haven  (the  port  of  Leyden,  Holland)  for  America, 
bearing  the  first  colony  of  Pilgrims,  who  were  finally  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  by  the 
Mayflower. 

The  four  Revolutionary  paintings  are  by  Col.  John  Trumbull  (1756-1843),  who  was 
son  of  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  of  Connecticut.  For  several  months  the  young  officer 
was  aid  and  military  secretary  to  Washington.  After  the  war  he  studied  in  Europe, 
and  conceived  an  ambition  to  produce  this  series  of  national  paintings,  in  which  each 
face  is  drawn  from  life,  so  far  as  sittings  could  be  obtained,  while  others  are  copied  from 
approved  portraits.  This  faithfulness  of  detail  interferes  with  the  best  artistic  results, 
giving  a  certain  hardness  to  all  parts,  but  increases  the  historical  value  of  the  composi¬ 
tions.  They  were  painted  between  1817  and  1824,  and  cost  the  nation  $32,000  —  a  large 
sum  in  those  daj’^s.  Beside  each  picture  is  a  “key,”  by  consulting  which  the  names  of 
most  of  the  persons  may  be  learned. 

The  first  is  “Signing  the  Declaration  of  Independence”  in  the  Old  Hall  in  Phila¬ 
delphia  in  1776,  the  arrangement  of  the  group  of  figures  having  been  made  as  Jefferson, 
Franklin,  and  others  of  the  fathers  described  it  to  him.  The  presiding  officer  is  John 
Hancock.  The  “Surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga”  to  General  Gates  is  from 
sketches  made  by  Trumbull  on  the  spot,  October  17,  1777.  The  artist  was  also  present 
at  the  “  Surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,”  portrayed  in  the  third  painting, 
where  the  British  are  marching  between  the  lines  of  the  American  and  French  allies. 
The  fourth  of  the  series  is  “The  Resignation  of  Washington”  as  commander-in-chief 
of  the  American  armies,  which  took  place,  closely  as  depicted,  at  Annapolis  on  Decem¬ 
ber  23,  1783,  where  Congress  was  then  in  session  in  the  old  Maryland  State  House. 
The  commission  he  then  surrendered  is  preserved  in  the  Department  of  State,  and  the 
coat  worn  by  Washington  upon  this  occasion  may  be  seen  at  the  National  Museum. 

Above  each  of  the  eight  paintings  are  panels  with  arabesque  designs  by  Causici  and 
Capellano,  containing  medallion  heads  of  the  four  great  pioneers  of  American  discov¬ 
ery —  Columbus,  Raleigh,  Cabot,  and  La  Salle.  They  were  done  in  1827,  and  cost 
$9,500. 

The  frieze,  ten  feet  wide,  just  beneath  the  gallery,  was  left  blank  for  many  years, 
but  in  1878  the  talented  Brumidi  began  a  series  of  paintings  intended  to  encircle  the 
room  (300  feet)  and  to  carry  out  the  historical  theme  to  which  all  the 
Rotunda  rotunda  decorations  conform.  They  are  chiaroscuro  drawings  in  distem - 

Frieze.  per  —  that  is,  expressed  merely  in  light  and  shade  and  painted  with  a 

glutinous  medium  upon  the  plaster.  A  procession  of  somewhat  conven¬ 
tional  figures  in  strong  relief,  imitating  the  alto-relievos  which  the  architect  had 
intended  to  place  here,  beginning  over  the  western  door  and  progressing  to  the  right 
(north)  and  so  on  around,  marches  through  the  cardinal  scenes  in  American  progress. 
Brumidi  had  completed  less  than  half  of  the  circle  when  he  died,  in  1880.  The  work 
was  then  continued  by  his  Italian  assistant,  Costagini,  but  is  not  yet  completed.  The 
estimated  expense  of  so  decorating  this  frieze  was  $10,000  —  the  favorite  congressional 
figure  for  art  pieces  —  and  it  has  often  been  spent  to  worse  advantage  than  here. 

On  the  canopy  of  the  dome  is  Brumidi’s*  masterpiece,  “The  Apotheosis  of  Wash- 


*  Constantino  Brumidi  was  born  in  Rome  in  1805,  studied  art,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Acad¬ 
emy  at  thirteen.  He  painted  frescoes  in  several  Roman  palaces,  and  worked  in  the  Vatican  for  three 
years  under  Gregoiy  XVI.  The  tradition  is  that  he  became  involved  in  the  Eimopean  revolution  of 
1848,  and  was  thrown  into  prison,  whence  he  was  freed,  on  account  of  his  reputation,  bj^  the  influence 
of  Pius  IX,  but  was  banished  from  Italy.  At  any  rate,  after  the  French  took  possession  of  Rome  he 
came  to  America,  where  he  remained  until  1854,  and  then  went  to  Mexico  to  do  frescoes.  Returning 
to  Washington,  he  was  employed  to  take  charge  of  the  mural  decorations  of  the  Capitol.  He  began 
with  the  room  of  the  House  Committee  on  Agriculture,  and  these  pictures  are  said  to  have  been  the 
first  frescoes  in  the  United  States.  He  also  did  frescoes  for  St.  Stephen’s  Church  in  New  York  and  for 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  PITOL. 


23 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.— Painting  by  Wm.  H.  Powell.  Rotunda. 


SIGNING  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE— Painting  by  John  Trumbull.  Rotunda. 


the  Philadelphia  Cathedi'al.  His  death,  in  1880,  followed  an  injury  received  upon  the  scaffold  while 
painting  the  frieze  of  the  rotunda.  His  work  is  strong  in  drawing,  excellent  in  idea,  and  brilliant  in 
color,  and  is  in  the  style  of  the  best  Italian  methods.  Whenever  he  represented  a  stated  event  or  included 
a  portrait  he  took  great  pains  that  it  should  be  truthful. 


24 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


ington.”  Glasses  will  help  one  to  study  it  from  the  floor,  hut  it  should  be  examined 
from  the  gallery  to  be  appreciated.  The  artist  worked  upon  it  several  years,  and  the 
cost  was  nearly  $o0,000,  of  which  Ih’umidi  received  $89,500,  and  an  exceedingly  skillful 
and  beautifying  result  was  obtained. 

The  central  figure  is  Washington,  with  Freedom  and  Victory  at  his  right  and  left, 
and  around  them  are  female  figures  to  represent  the  original  States  of  the  Union.  The 
border  of  the  canopy  contains  six  groups  of  emblematic  figures,  repre- 
Brumidi’s  senting  the  Fall  of  Tyranny,  Agriculture,  Mechanics,  Commerce,  the 
Canopy.  Marine,  and  the  Arts  and  Sciences.  The  painting  is  glowing  with  color, 
and  every  portion  of  it  is  finished  in  a  very  careful  manner. 

The  ascent  of  the  dome  may  be  made  by  a  stairway  ( 376  steps )  opening  from  the 
passage  to  the  Senate  wing,  and  it  is  possible  to  climb  even  to  the  foot  of  the  statue. 
Visitors  are  ordinarily  contented,  however,  to  stop  at  the  great  galleries,  exterior  and 
interior,  which  encircle  the  base  of  the  dome.  The  view  thence  is  an  exceedingly 
wide  and  interesting  one,  but  differs  little  from  that  obtained  from  the  summit  of  the 


Washington  Monument,  which 
few  persons,  therefore,  climb 
‘  ‘  The  huge  dome,”  says 
beauty  far  above,  the 

crown 

The  Dome,  is  of 

nearly 

sheets  of  iron,  securely 
on  iron  ribs,  and  by 
struction  the  changes 
contraction  and  expan¬ 
folding  and  unfolding  of 
from  designs  of  Thomas 
and  cost  $1,250,000.  Eight 
struction,  so  carefully  was  the 
ly  protected  from  the 
of  white  paint,  renewed 
last  for  centuries.  Its 


THE  APOTHEOSIS  OF  WASHINGTON. 
Painting  by  Constantino  Brumidi. 


can  be  reached  by  an  elevator ; 
these  tedious  stairways. 
Evans,  “rising  in  its  classic 
main  building,  is  a  fitting 
to  the  noble  edifice.  It 
cast  ire  i  and  weighs 
4,000  tons.  Large 
bolted  together,  rest 
the  plan  used  in  its  con- 
of  temperature  make  its 
sion  merely  ‘like  the 
the  lily.’  It  was  built 
U.  Walter  of  Philadelphia, 
years  were  required  in  its  con- 
work  done,  and  as  it  is  thorough- 
weather  by  thick  coats 
yearly,  it  is  likely  to 
base  consists  of  a  peri¬ 


style  of  thirty-six  fluted  columns  surmounted  by  an  entablature  and  a  balustrade.  Then 
comes  an  attic  story,  and  above  this  the  dome  proper.  At  the  top  is  a  gallery,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  balustrade,  from  which  may  be  obtained  a  magnificent  view  of  the  city 
and  its  environs.  Rising  from  the  gallery  is  the  ‘lantern,’  fifteen  feet  in  diameter  and 
fifty  feet  high,  surrounded  by  a  peristyle.  Over  the  lantern  is  a  globe,  and  standing  on 
the  globe  is  the  bronze  statue  of  Liberty,  designed  by  Thomas  Crawford,  and  cast  at 
Bladensburg,  Md.  It  is  nineteen  feet  six  inches  high,  weighs  seven  and  one-half  tons, 
and  cost  more  than  $24,000.  It  was  placed  in  position  December  2,  1863,  amid  the 
salutes  from  guns  in  Washington  and  the  surrounding  forts,  and  the  cheers  of  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  soldiers.” 

This  statue  was  lifted  to  its  position  in  sections,  afterward  bolted  together.  The 
original  plaster  model  is  in  the  National  Museum. 

Statues  now  adorn  the  rotunda,  as  follows  :  Vinnie  Ream  Hoxie’s  much- 
RotUnda  discussed  statue  of  Lincoln,  for  which  Congress  paid  $15,000  in  1870, 

Statues.  after  a  long  debate,  in  which  Senator  Sumner  made  an  illuminating  speech 

on  the  application  of  art  to  the  Capitol.  The  statue  of  Alexander  Ham¬ 
ilton  (1756-1804)  is  by  Stone,  is  dated  1868,  and  cost  $10,000.  Another  statue  by  Stone 
is  that  of  the  Oregon  Senator  and  Union  soldier.  Col.  Edward  D.  Baker,  who  was 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


25 


killed  at  Ball’s  Bluff  in  1861.  The  statue  of  Jefferson  here  has  the  following  history, 
according  to  Ben:  Perley  Poore  :  “A  spirited  bronze  statue  of  Jefferson  by  his  admirer, 
the  French  sculptor,  David  d’ Angers,  was  presented  to  Congress  by  Lieut.  Uriah  P. 
Levy,  but  Congress  declined  to  accept  it,  and  denied  it  a  position  in  the  Capitol.  It  was 
then  reverentially  taken  in  charge  by  two  naturalized  citizens,  stanch  Democrats, 
and  placed  on  a  small  pedestal  in  front  of  the  White  House.  One  of  these  worshipers  of 
Jefferson  was  the  public  gardener,  Jimmy  Maher  ;  the  other  was  John  Foy,  keeper  of 
the  restaurant  in  the  basement  of  the  Capitol,  and  famous  for  his  witty  sayings.”  The 
fifth  is  a  statue  of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  by  Franklin  Simmons,  the  gift  of  the  Grand  Army 
to  the  United  States. 

The  eastern  door  of  the  rotunda  opens  upon  the  grand  portico  of  the  eastern  front. 
The  carvings  above  it  have  been  described. 

The  western  door  leads  to  a  rear  stairway  descending  a  narrow  hall  to  the  rear 
entrance  of  the  Capitol  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue  ;  also  to  a  balcony  which  gives  an 
exceedingly  interesting  view  toward  the  river,  the  Treasury,  and  northwestward. 

The  northern  door  leads  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  onward  to  the  Senate  Chamber. 

The  southern  door  admits  to  Statuary  Hall  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the 
southern  extension,  to  which  attention  may  now  be  directed,  as  the  first  step  in  a  general 
survey  of  the  Capitol. 

Passing  through  the  southern  door  and  a  circular  vestibule,  we  emerge  into  a  semi¬ 
circular  hall  ninety-five  feet  in  greatest  width,  whose  ceiling  is  a  half-dome  sixty  feet 
high,  beneath  which  is  a  spacious  gallery  filled  with  the  Library  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  This  was  the  Hall  of  Representatives  of  the  Orig^inal 
original  Capitol,  and  as  first  built  it  was  an  oblong  rectangular  room.  In  Hall  of 

rebuilding  it,  after  the  fire  of  1814,  Latrobe  converted  it  into  a  semicir-  Reprcsenta- 
cular  room,  taking  as  his  model,  tradition  says,  an  ancient  theater  in  tivcs. 

Greece ;  and  doubtless  it  was  an  extremely  beautiful  apartment  when 
fresh  in  color,  lighted  at  night,  and  filled  with  a  brilliant  assemblage.  At  the  southern 
end  is  a  grand  arch,  supported  by  columns  of  Potomac  variegated  marble  (breccia), 
with  white  Italian  capitals  copied  from  relics  in  the  ruins  of  Athens.  Many  other  simi¬ 
lar  pillars  form  a  colonnade  about  the  room  and  sustain  the  profusely  paneled  ceiling. 
The  cupola,  which  admits  such  poor  light  as  the  room  now  gets,  was  the  work  of  a 
young  Italian  artist  named  Bonani,  who  died  soon  after,  and  who  took  his  design  from 
the  Roman  Pantheon.  The  arch  is  adorned  with  an  eagle  sculptured  from  life  by  Val- 
perti,  another  Italian  of  high  reputation,  while  a  dignified  model  for  a  statue  of  Liberty, 
wrought  in  plaster  by  Causici  in  1829,  stands  beneath  the  arch  over  the  former  position 
of  the  Speaker’s  desk.  Opposite  it,  above  the  entrance  door,  remains  the 
famous  old  marble  clock.  It  is  a  notable  object,  and  was  executed  in  this  Franzoni’s 

city  by  C.  Franzoni,  an  Italian  sculptor,  who  died  Ma}^  12,  1819,  but  the  Clock, 

design  is  said  to  have  been  drawn  by  Latrobe.  The  th6me  is  the  Flight 
of  Time.  The  Genius  of  History  is  represented  as  standing  gracefully  upon  the  winged 
chariot  of  Progress,  which  is  rolling  over  a  globe  belted  with  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 
History  records  the  incidents  of  national  life  as  Time  overtakes  them,  and  the  wheel  of 
her  swift  chariot  forms  the  dial  of  the  clock,  which  is  marked  with  gilded  figures. 

The  House  of  Representatives  used  this  hall  from  1808  until  1814,  and  then  from 
1817  to  the  end  of  1857.  “  Here  Clay,  Webster,  the  younger  Adams,  Calhoun,  Randolph, 

Cass,  Burges,  Wise,  Forsyth,  Corwin,  Wright,  and  many  others  won  reputation  for 
statesmanship,  and  made  the  walls  ring  with  their  fiery  eloquence.  Here  were  many 
fierce  and  bitter  wrangles  over  vexed  questions —  turbulent  scenes,  displays  of  sectional 
feeling;  and  here  also  was  much  legislative  action  which  has  gone  into  history  as  wise 
and  beneficial.  .  .  The  old  hall  appeared  as  follows  in  the  latter  years  of  its  use  by 


26 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


the  House:  The  Speaker’s  chair  and  ta])le  stood  on  a  rostrum  four  feet  from  the  floor, 
and  back  of  the  rostrum  were  crimson  curtains,  hanging  in  folds  from  tlie  capitals  of 
the  ponderous  marble  columns  which  supported  the  great  arch  of  the  hall.  The  clerk’s 
desk  stood  below  the  rostrum,  and  between  the  columns  were  sofas  and  tables  for  the 
reporters.  The  Representatives  were  provided  with  mahogany  desks  and  wide  arm¬ 
chairs,  which  were  arranged  in  concentric  circles.  The  hall  could  accommodate  250 
members.  A  bronzed  iron  railing  with  curtains  enclosed  the  outer  row  of  desks,  and 
this  constiiuted  the  bar  of  the  House.  Beyond  the  railing  was  the  members’  lobby,  and 
above  the  lobby  were  galleries  seating  about  500  persons.  One  of  the  galleries  was 
reserved  for  ladies,  and  in  two  of  its  panels  were  paintings  of  Washington  and  Lafayette, 
which  now  hang  in  the  present  hall  of  the  House.  Under  the  paintings  were  large 
copies  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  frames 
ornamented  with  national 
emblems.  The  hall  was 
lighted  by  a  chaiulelier, 
which  hung  from  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  domed  ceiling.” 

It  was  in  this  hall  that 
ex-President  John  Quincy 
Adams,  then  a  Representa¬ 
tive  for  Massachusetts,  was 
prostrated  at  his  desk,  on 
February  21,  1848,  by 

paralysis,  resulting  in  his 
death  two 
Death  of  days  later. 

Adams.  A  star  set 

in  the  floor 

marks  the  position  of  his  desk.  The  gallery  is  now  filled  with  the  overflow  of  the  House 
library  from  the  neighboring  upper  corridor,  and  the  corners  beneath,  extending  back 
to  the  rotunda  wall,  are  occupied  by  the  keeper  of  the  House  documents,  and  by  the 
Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills  and  its  clerks.  An  inner  ofiice  behind  the  latter  is 
that  of  the  clerk  of  the  House,  and  is  the  room,  then  assigned  to  the  Speaker,  in  which 
Adams  died. 

The  present  use  of  this  room  as  a  hall  of  memorial  statuary  is  due  to  a  suggestion 
from  the  late  Senator  Justin  S.  Morrill,  when  he  was  a  Representative  from  Vermont, 
which  resulted  in  an  invitation  by  Congress,  in  1864,  to  each  State  to  send  marble  or 
bronze  statues  of  two  of  her  most  illustrious  sons  for  permanent  preservation. 

As  a  beginning  certain  statues  and  busts  owned  by  the  Federal  Government  were 
collected  here.  They  include  Hubbard’s  plaster  copy  of  Houdon’s  statue  of  Washing¬ 
ton,  the  face  of  which  was  modeled  from  a  plaster  cast  taken  by  Houdon* 
Statuary  himself  at  Mount  Vernon  in  1785,  and  Mrs.  Fisher  Ames’  bust  of  Lincoln, 

'  Hall.  upon  a  pedestal  of  Aberdeen  granite  (a  gift),  for  which  $2,000  was  paid. 

Here  also  will  be  found  a  marble  bust  of  Senator  J.  J.  Crittenden 
of  Kentucky,  author  of  the  “Crittenden  Compromise”  measure  and  Harrison’s 


*Jean  Antoine  Houdon,  who  was  a  cultivated  French  sculptor  (1741-18‘-28),  educated  in  Paris  and 
Rome,  was  employed  by  the  State  of  Virginia  to  make  a  statue  of  Washington.  He  came  and  studied 
his  subject,  resided  for  several  weeks  with  the  family  at  Mount  Vernon,  cast  Washington's  face,  and 
then  made  in  Italy  the  original  statue,  now  in  the  capitol  at  Richmond.  It  is  the  most  faithful  portrait 
in  existence  of  the  Father  of  His  Country  in  his  later  years.  This  plaster  copy  cost  $2,000. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


27 


Attorney-General,  by  Joel  T.  Hart;  and  a  portrait  of  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  by  Miss 
C.  L.  Ransom. 

A  few  States  have  sent  the  effigies  called  for,  and  they  stand  in  the  dim  light  as  if 
petrified  with  surprise  at  the  miscellaneous  company  of  greatness  in  which  they  find 
themselves,  and  the  tedium  of  waiting  to  be  let  out.  Some  are  of  high  merit,  but  many 
are  not,  and  none  can  be  fairly  estimated  or  enjoyed  when  set  up  in  this  gloomy  and 
echoing  hall,  like  a  lot  of  gravestones  exposed  for  sale  in  a  dealer’s  warerooms.  Follow¬ 
ing  is  a  catalogue  of  these  State  statues  : 

California:  Gen.  James  Shields,  by  Leonard  W.  Volk. 

Connecticut:  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  (the  original  “  Brother  Jonathan,”  1710-1785) 
and  Roger  Sherman,  one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  (1721-1793), 
both  the  work  of  C.  B.  Ives,  and  placed  here  in  1872. 

Indiana:  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  that  State  during  the  Civil  War. 

Maine:  Gov.  William  King  (1768-1852),  by  Franklin  W.  Simmons,  1877. 

Massachusetts:  Gov.  John  Winthrop  (1588-1649)  by  Richard  S.  Greenough  (a  brother 
of  Horatio  Grenough),  dated  1876 ;  and  Samuel  Adams  (1722-1803),  by 
Anne  Whitney,  1876.  State 

Michigan:  Lewis  Cass  (1782-1866),  Senator  and  Secretary  of  State,  Statues, 
by  Daniel  Chester  French,  dated  1887. 

Missouri:  Sen.  Frank  P.  Blair  (1821-1876);  and  Sen.  Thomas  H.  Benton  (1782-1858). 

New  Hampshire:  Gen.  John  Stark  (1728-1822);  Daniel  Webster  (1782-1852).  Both  by 
Carl  Conrad,  after  the  statues  in  Concord,  N.  H. 

New  Jersey:  Richard  Stockton  (1730-1781),  one  of  the  Signers,  in  marble;  and  Gen. 
Philip  Kearney  (1815-1862)  in  bronze.  Both  are  from  models  by  H.  K.  Brown. 

New  York:  Vice-President  George  Clinton  (1739-1812),  by  H.  K.  Brown,  and  cast  by 
Wood  in  Philadelphia  in  1873;  Chancellor  Robert  Livingston  (1747-1813),  by  E.  D.  Pal¬ 
mer,  cast  in  Paris  in  1874. 

Ohio:  President  James  A.  Garfield  (1831-1881)  and  Senator  and  Governor  William 
Allen.  Both  are  by  Charles  H.  Niehaus. 

Pennsylvania:  Robert  Fulton  (1765-1815),  who  was  born  in  this  State,  but  made  his 
career  elsewhere,  by  Howard  Roberts;  and  Gen  John  P.  G.  Muhlenberg  (1746-1807),  by 
Helen  Blanche  Kevin. 

Rhode  Island:  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene  (1742-1786),  by  H.  K.  Brown,  dated  1869;  and 
Roger  Williams  (1606-1683),  by  Franklin  Simmons,  1870. 

Vermont:  Col.  Ethan  Allen  (1737-1789),  a  colossal  marble  figure,  dated  1875,  by  Larkin 
G.  Mead  of  that  State  ;  and  Senator  Jacob  Collamer  (1791-1865),  Taylor’s  Postmaster- 
General,  by  Hiram  Powers. 

West  Virginia:  Senator  John  M.  Kenna,  by  Alexander  Doyle. 

Wisconsin:  Father  James  Marquette,  missionary-explorer  (1637-1675),  by 
Trentanove. 

Statuary  Hall  has  surprising  acoustic  properties,  which  the  Capitol  guides  have  learned, 
and  apply  to  the  amusement  of  sightseers  and  their  own  profit.  Curious  echoes,  whisp¬ 
ers  distinct  at  a  distance,  and  ability  to  hear  what  is  inaudible  to  a  person 
at  your  elbow,  are  among  the  curiosities  of  sound  observable  at  certain  AcOUStic 
points.  One  experiment  easily  tried  is  for  two  persons  to  place  their  faces  Curiosities, 

close  in  the  corners  of  the  room  beside  the  pillars  of  the  arch  ;  they  may 
speak  in  a  low  tone  and  be  heard  distinctly,  each  by  the  other.  The  Capitol  guides,  it 
may  be  remarked,  include  some  very  well  informed  men,  who  can  make  themselves  of 
great  use  to  a  stranger  in  this  immense  and  storied  building;  and  it  is  the  only  place  in 
the  city  where  a  professional  guide  is  of  any  use  whatever.  The  Capitol  guides  are  per 
mitted  to  charge  50  cents  an  hour,  but  are  often  cheerfully  paid  much  more. 


28 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Leaving  Statuary  Hall  by  the  door  under  the  arch,  you  quit  the  limits  of  the  old 
Capitol,  and  traverse  the  corridor  to  the  southern  or  House  wing.  The  principal  doors 
of  the  House  confront  you  as  3^ou  reach  the  lobby,  each  guarded,  if  Con- 
House  of  gress  is  in  session,  by  doorkeepers,  whose  business  it  is  to  see  that  none 
Representa-  enter  who  have  not  “the  rights  of  the  floor.” 

tives.  The  Hall  of  Representatives  (occupied  since  December  16,  1857)  is  an 

oblong  room  139  feet  long  by  93  wide  and  36  high,  the  “floor”  t)eing  115 
by  67  feet.  The  ceiling  is  a  framework  of  iron,  bronzed  and  gilded,  inlaid  with  glass, 
upon  which  the  coats-of-arms  of  the  States  are  painted,  mellowing  rather  than  oljscuring 
the  abundant  light.  The  Speaker’s  raised  desk  is  against  the  southern  wall,  and  below 
him  are  the  marble  desks  of  the  clerks  and  official  reporters,  the  latter  keeping  a  stenO' 
graphic  record  of  everything  done  or  said,  to  be  published  in  The  Congressional  Record 
next  morning.  The  assistant  doorkeeper  sits  at  the  Speaker’s  left,  and  the  sergeant-at- 
arms  within  easy  call.  This  latter  officer  is  the  Speaker’s  policeman  —  the  representative 
of  the  phy^sical  force  which  backs  up  the  civil  rule;  and  his  sj^mbol  of  authority  is  the 
mace,  which  reposes  on  a  marble  pedestal  at  the  right  of  the  Speaker. 

“The  mace  was  adopted  by  the  House  in  the  First  Congress,  and  has  been  in  use  ever 
since.  When  it  is  placed  on  its  pedestal,  it  signifies  that  the  House  is  in  session  and 
under  the  Speaker's  authority;  when  it  is  placed  on  the  floor,  that  the 
Mace.  House  is  in  committee  of  the  whole.  The  mace  is  a  bundle  of  black  rods 

fastened  with  transverse  bands  of  silver,  like  the  Roman /a.'Ces.  On  its 
top  is  a  silver  globe  surmounted  by  a  silver  eagle.  When  the  sergeant-at-arms  is  execut¬ 
ing  the  commands  of  the  Speaker,  he  is  required  to  bear  aloft  the  mace  in  his  hands.” 

Grouped  in  concentric  semicircles  are  the  desks  of  the  Representatives,  all  small,  uni¬ 
form,  and  handsome,  those  of  the  Republican  party  on  the  Speaker’s  left  and  those  of  the 
Democratic  party  on  the  right.  When  a  division  of  the  House  takes  place,  all  come  down 
the  side  aisles  into  the  space  in  front  of  the  clerk’s  desk  and  pass  out  up  the  central  aisle 
between  counting-tellers.  Over  the  Speaker’s  head  is  the  press  galleiy,  and  doors  lead 
to  the  lobby  and  retiring-rooms  in  the  rear.  Beneath  the  galleries,  in  rear  of  the  Repre¬ 
sentatives’  desks,  are  “cloakrooms”  —  small  apartments  where  the  Members  not  onty 
hang  up  their  hats  and  overcoats,  but  smo’.e  and  talk  bejmnd  the  hubbub  of  the  House. 

The  galleries  (reached  from  the  next  floor)  are  divided  into  sections,  some  of  which 
are  devoted  to  ladies  and  others  reserved  for  diplomats,  friends  of  Congressmen,  etc. 

The  doorkeepers  will  give  an^^one  who  asks  for  it  a  plan  of  the  House 
House  showing  where  the  Representatives  are  seated.  Twelve  hundred  persons 

Galleries.  may  be  crowded  into  these  galleries. 

The  Hall  of  Representatives  is  a  business-like  room  —  elegant  but  not 
over-ornamented.  It  is  carpeted  and  draped  in  warm  colors,  but  the  prevailing  tone  of 
the  decoration  is  white  and  gold.  At  the  right  of  the  chair  hangs  a  full-length  portrait 
of  Washington  as  President,  by  Vandertyn,  ordered  by  Congress  in  1832,  to  signalize 
the  hundredth  anniversary  of  Washington’s  birth,  and  delivered  in  1834,  at  the  price  of 
$2,500.  On  the  left  is  Ary  Scheffer’s  portrait  of  Lafa3’ette,  painted  in 
Faintin§^S.  1822,  and  presented  to  Congress  by  that  artist  in  1824.  The  panel  at  the 
right  of  the  “Washington”  is  taken  by  Bierstadt’s  painting  of  the  “Settle¬ 
ment  of  California,”  while  occup3dng  the  corresponding  panel  on  the  west,  adjoining 
the  “Lafayette,”  is  the  “Discovery  of  the  Hudson ”  by  the  same  artist,  who  was  paid 
$10,000  for  each.  Adjoining  the  last  named  is  a  fresco  by  Brumidi,  representing  Wash¬ 
ington  treating  with  Cornwallis  for  the  surrender  of  his  arm3^  at  Yorktown  —  a  gift  to 
Congress  from  this  painter. 

Corridors  surround  the  House,  paved  with  Minton  tiles,  wainscoted  with  marble, 
and  having  decorated  ceilings  and  other  adornments.  Turning  to  the  right  (west)  at 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


29 


the  entrance,  you  find,  just  beyond  the  corner,  the  Western  Grand  Staircase,  leading  to 
the  attic  story  or  gallery  floor. 

This  staircase  is  double,  with  massive  balustrades  of  polished  Tennessee  marble, 
and  is  lighted  from  the  roof  through  stained  glass.  At  the  foot  is  a  bronze  bust 
of  a  Chippewa  Chief,  Bee-she-kee  or  The  Buffalo,  modeled  from  life  in 
1855  by  Vincenti.  The  opposite  wall  is  largely  covered  by  the  fresco  by  Western 
Leutze,  representing  western  emigration  under  the  title  ‘Westward,  Ho  !”  Grand 

The  action  in  the  'figures  is  the  best  part  of  the  composition,  for  which  Staircase. 
$20,000  was  paid.  Strips  of  wall  beside  the  picture  are  highly  decorated. 

That  on  the  right  contains  a  portrait  of  Daniel  Boone,  as  a  typical  explorer,  and  the 


THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

motto:  “The  spirit  grows  with  its  allotted  spaces;  the  mind  is  narrowed  in  a  nar¬ 
row  sphere.”  That  on  the  left  has  a  portrait  of  Col.  William  Clark,  to  whose  energetic 
action  the  United  States  mainly  owes  its  early  possession  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  with  a 
familiar  misquotation  from  Jonathan  M.  Sewall,  which  should  read  : 

No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  your  powers, 

But  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  yours. 

Beneath  Leutze’s  fresco  is  a  similarly  treated  sketch  by  Bierstadt,  of  the  Golden  Gate, 
or  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  California. 

The  rooms  beyond  the  staircase  are  offices  of  the  clerks  of  the  House,  and  the  fourth 
(in  the  corner)  is  the  Speaker’s  room.  An  elevator  is  near  here. 

Turning  down  the  corridor,  across  the  southern  end  of  the  wing  and  in  rear  of 
the  hall,  the  handsome  retiring-rooms  of  the  Representatives  are  passed  ; 
and  at  the  end,  opposite  the  basement  stairs,  is  the  House  Lobby.  BronzC 

This  basement  stairway  is  one  of  the  four  beautiful,  bronze-railed  Stairways, 

private  stairs  leading  down  to  committee-rooms,  etc.,  on  the  floor  below, 
which  are  found  at  opposite  corners  of  the  halls  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House. 


30 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Their  balustrades  are  exquisite  works  of  art  in  metal,  were  cast  in  Philadelphia  after 
designs  by  Baudin,  and  cost  something  over  $500  each.  It  is  worth  an  effort  to 
see  them. 

The  House  Lobby  is  richly  furnished,  and  contains  many  portraits  —  most  of  which 
are  crayon-drawings  —  of  the  Speakers  of  the  past,  who  find  themselves  in  a  sort  of 
legal  obscurity  delightfully  suitable  to  the  mysterious  bargains  and  vague  “understand¬ 
ings  ”  associated  with  this  apartment,  where  Congressmen  confer  with  those  whom  they 
choose  to  admit.  This  and  the  adjoining  apartments  are  not  open  to  public  inspection 
after  noon  when  Congress  is  in  session. 

Passing  another  bronze-railed  stairway  and  turning  to  the  left,  three  committee- rooms 
of  great  interest  are  passed  on  the  eastern  front  of  this  wing.  In  the  corner  is  that  of 
the  Committee  on  Appropriations  ;  next  comes  that  of  Ways  and  Means,  which  is  richly 
frescoed  ;  and  in  the  farther  (northeastern)  corner  is  that  of  Military  Affairs,  hung  with 
a  notable  collection  of  paintings  of  the  principal  forts  of  the  United  States,  gathered 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eastman,  U.  S.  A.  From  this  corridor  the 
Eastern  Eastern  Grand  Staircase,  similar  to  the  western,  ascends  to  the  gallery 

Grand  floor.  At  its  foot  is  Powers’  statue  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  which  cost  $10,- 

Stairway.  000,  but  is  difficult  to  see.  Over  the  landing  hangs  Frank  B.  Carpen¬ 
ter’s  painting  of  the  “Signing  of  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,” 
by  President  Lincoln,  in  the  presence  of  his  Cabinet,  September  22,  1862,  presented  to 
Congress  in  1878  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thompson,  who,  it  is  said,  paid  $25,000  for  the  pic¬ 
ture.  Beginning  at  the  left  the  portraits  are:  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War; 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Abraham  Lincoln,  President;  Gideon 
Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  William  H.  Seward  (seated).  Secretary  of  State;  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Montgomery  Blair,  Postmaster-General;  Edward  Bates, 
Attorney-General.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  for  a  considerable  time  an  inmate  of  Lincoln’s 
family  at  the  White  House,  and  has  written  many  interesting  reminiscences  of  that  time. 

Ascending  to  the  attic  floor  we  may  again  make  the  circuit  of  this  wing  through  cor¬ 
ridors  whose  inner  doors  open  into  the  galleries  of  the  House.  At  the  top  of  the  staircase 
hangs  a  full-length  portrait  of  Henry  Clay,  painted  by  Neagle  in  1843  for 
Portraits.  the  family,  and  regarded  by  Mr.  Clay  as  the  best  portrait  made  of  him. 

It  is  flanked  on  one  side  by  a  portrait  of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the 
last  survivor  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  painted  by  Chester  Har¬ 
ding,  a  contemporary  and  rival  of  Gilbert  Stuart,  and  on  the  other  side  by  a  portrait 
of  Gunning  Bedford,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from  Delaware,  painted  by 
Gilbert  Stuart  and  presented  by  his  family. 

Turning  the  corner  toward  the  left  we  walk  along  the  corridor  in  the  rear  of  the 
House  galleries,  the  distribution  of  which  is  indicated  by  labels  over  the  doors.  The 
most  conspicuous  compartment  is  that  devoted  to  the  press,  which  has  a  broad  space  over 
the  Speaker’s  head  and  facing  the  House;  it  is  fitted  with  desks,  and  gov- 
HOUSC  erned  by  stringent  rules  made  by  a  committee  of  correspondents.  More 

Galleries.  than  half  of  the  gallery,  with  seats  for  some  500  persons,  is  open  to  the 

public,  which  may  come  and  go  at  will;  portions  of  this  are  nominally 
reserved  for  ladies;  but  gentlemen  with  them  may  also  enter.  A  private  room  for  ladies, 
with  a  woman  attendant,  will  be  found  in  the  south  front.  Certain  rooms  on  this  floor 
are  devoted  to  House  committees  and  other  official  purposes,  and  the  second  story  of 
the  corridor  connecting  this  gallery  with  that  of  Statuary  Hall  is  filled  with  the  House’s 
file  of  public  documents,  bound  uniformly  in  sheepskin,  and  now  numbering  nearlj’- 
150,000  volumes.  The  early  records  of  Congress  are  very  valuable.  The  only  picture 
here  is  that  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  which  hangs  opposite  the  head  of  the  western 
staircase,  and  is  an  excellent  full-length  painted  by  R.  N.  Brooke  in  1880. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


31 


The  basement  of  the  House,  to  which  an  elevator  makes  a  convenient  descent,  con-^ 
tains  the  House  post  office  (southeast  corner);  committee  and  clerks’ 
rooms,  of  which  several  are  elaborately  frescoed  ;  a  public  restaurant  (at  HOUSC 

the  foot  of  the  eastern  staircase);  elaborate  bathrooms  for  Representa-  Bascmcnt. 

tives,  and  public  lavatories  for  men  (at  the  foot  of  the  western  stairway). 

The  room  of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  was  decorated  by  Brumidi,  as  his  intro¬ 
ductory  work,  with  what  some  critics  have  pronounced  the  best  frescoes  in  the  building. 
They  represent  Cincinnatus  called  from  his  fields  to  be  dictator,  and  Putnam  going 
from  his  plow  to  be  a  general  in  the  Continental  army.  There  are  also  sketches  con¬ 
trasting  harvests  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  medallions  of  Washington  and 
Jefferson.  Figures  of  Flora  (spring),  Ceres  (summer),  Bacchus  (autumn),  and  Boreas 
(winter)  accent  the  decoration  of  the  ceiling.  The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  has  the 
benefit  of  wall  paintings  of  Indian  scenes  executed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eastman, 
U.  S.  A.,  whose  collection  of  pictures  of  forts,  largely  painted  by  himself,  is  preserved 
in  the  room  of  the  House  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 

The  sub-basement  beneath  this  part  of  the  building  contains  the  elaborate  machinery 
for  heating  and  ventilating  the  Hall  of  Representatives  and  this  wing  generally.  Fresh 
air  is  drawn  in  from  a  remote  part  of  the  grounds,  and  its  temperature, 
degree  of  dryness,  etc.,  are  regulated  by  ingenious  machinery,  which  is  Sub- 

open  to  inspection  by  visitors  who  wish  to  descend  to  the  engine-room.  bascmCdt. 

A  similar  apparatus  is  in  the  Senate  sub-basement  for  the  service  of  the 
north  wing.  The  central  part  of  the  sub-basement  is  a  labyrinth  of  dark  archways  used 
for  storage,  when  used  at  all. 

A  basement  corridor  extends  from  end  to  end  of  the  Capitol  on  this  ground  floor,  and 
furnishes  a  convenient  means  of  reaching  the  Senate  wing  without  retracing  one’s  steps. 
The  white  marble  pillars  will  at  once  attract  the  eye.  The  connoisseur  will  remark  that 
though  of  Corinthian  mold,  their  floriated  capitals  represent  leaves  of  American  plants, 
especially  tobacco.  This  was  a  pretty  notion  of  Benj.  H.  Latrobe,  and  a  still  finer  exam¬ 
ple  exists  in  the  Senate  vestibule.  Half  way  down  this  corridor  through  the  basement 
(which  really  is  the  ground  floor,  numerous  doors  opening  directly  upon 
the  plaza  and  terrace),  we  come  to  the  crypt,  an  apartment  formed  of  Crypt, 

the  spaces  between  the  forty  Doric  columns  that  support  the  massive 
brick  arches  upon  which  is  laid  the  floor  of  the  rotunda;  a  star  in  the  pavement  marks 


WESTWARD,  HO!— WESTWARD  THE  COURSE  OF  EMPIRE  TAKES  ITS  WAY.- Painting  by  Emanuel  LeuUe. 


82 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


the  center  of  the  building  immediately  beneath  the  dome.  A  large  part  of  the  crypt 
has  been  walled  off  for  storage  of  documents.  A  passage  to  the  left  leads  out  to  the 
western  entrance  and  upstairs  into  the  rotunda;  and  another  leads  to  the  basement  doors 
under  the  grand  portico  of  the  eastern  front. 

The  Undercroft  is  the  name  applied  to  the  vault  beneath  the  crypt,  intended  by  the 
founders  of  the  Republic  as  the  mausoleum  of  AVashington  and  his 
Undercroft.  family  ;  but  these  good  people  preferred  to  be  buried  at  Mount  Vernon, 
and  the  undercroft  remains  empty. 

Passing  onward,  a  few  steps  take  one  past  the  light-shaft  to  the  door  (on  the  right)  of 
the  old  Supreme  Court  Chamber,  immediately  under  the  present  chamber.  It  was  in 
this  room,  now  tilled  with  the  exceedingly  valuable  law  library  of  the  court,  that  all  the 
great  cases  were  heard  previous  to  1857.  It  was  injured  by  fire  in  1898.  A  few  steps 
farther  carry  one  out  of  the  old  main  building  and  into  the  basement  of 
Senate  the  Senate  wing.  Here  there  is  a  public  restaurant,  public  lavatories  for 

Basement.  both  men  and  women,  and  many  offices  and  committee-rooms.  All  the 

corridors  and  vestibules  at  this  end  are  well  lighted,  and  the  walls  and 
ceilings  are  very  profusely  and  elaborately  decorated  with  mural  designs  in  the  Italian 
manner,  daintily  drawn  and  brightly  colored.  Among  them  are  many  portraits  of  early 
American  men  of  note,  in  medallions,  and  a  long  series  of  charming  drawings  in  colors 
of  North  American  birds,  small  mammals,  and  fiowers.  The  vestibule  of  the  Senate 
post  office,  in  the  northwest  corner,  is  particularly  picturesque,  having  over  the  post- 
office  door  a  large  painting  of  Fulton,  pointing,  as  if  from  a  balcony,  to  his  first  steam¬ 
boat,  the  Claremont,  passing  the  Palisades  of  the  Hudson.  The  door  of  the  Committee 
on  Post  Office  Affairs  is  suitably  indicated  by  a  sprightly  picture  of  Franklin,  who 
organized  the  American  Post  Office  ;  while  over  the  opposite  door  is  a  likeness  of  Fitch, 
Fulton’s  competitor  in  developing  the  idea  of  steam  navigation. 

Other  especially  fine  frescoes  are  to  be  seen  in  the  rooms  of  the  Senate  committees  on 
Indian  Affairs,  Naval  Affairs,  Military  Affairs  (where  Revolutionary  battles  are  pictured 
in  glorious  colors),  and  Foreign  Affairs  ;  the  doors  of  the  latter  and  of  the 
Frescoes  in  Committee  on  Patents  are  further  distinguished  b}"  frescoes  by  Brumidi 
Committee  above  the  lintels  —  in  the  formei  case  “The  Signing  of  the  Treaty  of 

Rooms.  Ghent,”  and  in  the  latter  a  full-length  picture  of  Robert  Fulton.  The 

rendering  over  and  over  in  painting  and  carving  of  the  same  subjects  and 
faces  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  unsystematic  and  ununiform  embellishment  of  the 
Capitol.  The  room  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Public  Lands  contains  the  painting 
“The  Recall  of  Columbus,”  by  Aug.  G.  Heaton,  which  used  to  hang  in  the  corridor  of 
the  Senate  galleries. 

A  stairway  or  an  elevator  at  either  the  eastern  or  western  end  of  the  main  corridor  will 
take  one  up  to  the  main  story  of  the  Senate  wing.  Here,  as  in  the  southern  wing,  corridors 
extend  completely  around  the  Senate  Chamber,  which  occupies  the  center  of  this  wing. 

The  Senate  Chamber  is  113  feet  long,  80  feet  wide,  and  36  feet  high,  including  the 
galleries,  which  extend  all  around  and  will  accommodate  about  1,000  persons.  The 
space  under  the  galleries  on  the  east,  west,  and  south  sides  is  partitioned  into  cloak¬ 
rooms  for  the  Senators,  while  on  the  north  side  is  the  Senate  lobby.  The  area  of  the 
fioor  is  diminished  by  these  rooms  to  84  feet  long  by  51  wide. 

The  fiat  ceiling  of  iron  girders  inclosing  broad  panels  of  glass,  painted  with 
Senate  emblems  of  the  Union,  Progress,  the  Army,  the  Navy,  the  Mechanic  Arts, 

Chamber.  etc.,  admits  a  soft  light  day  and  night.  The  marble  walls  are  paneled 

by  pilasters  in  couples,  and  the  doors  are  of  choice  mahogany.  The 
carpet  is  usually  green,  setting  off  well  the  mahogany  desks  of  quaint  pattern,  which, 
with  the  chairs,  are  now  uniform,  and  the  profuse  gilding  about  the  walls  and  ceiling. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


83 


Each  desk  bears  a  silver  plate  with  the  occupant’s  name.  A  Senator  keeps  a  desk 
only  during  a  single  Congress,  drawing  lots  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  for  a  ch<  >ice  of 
seats  — the  Republicans  sitting  at  the  left  and  the  Democrats  at  the  right  of  the  presid- 


THE  SENATE  CHAMBER. 


ing  officer.  Some  desks  are  old  and  historic,  being  the  same  at  which  Senators  distin¬ 
guished  in  the  early  history  of  the  Republic  sat  or  delivered  their  forensic  thunders. 

The  President  of  the  Senate  is  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  He  sits 
upon  a  platform  within  an  arched  niche  and  behind  a  broad  desk.  His  chair  is  high 
backed  and  a  magnificent  piece  of  carved  mahogany,  a  gift  to  Vice-President  Hobart. 
At  his  right  is  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  and  at  his  left  the  Assistant  Doorkeeper.  In  front 
of  him,  a  step  lower  down,  is  the  desk  of  the  Senate  clerks,  and  in  front  of  that,  on  the 
floor  of  the  arena,  the  tables  of  the  official  reporters.  The  press  gallery 
is  behind  the  President,  and  facing  him  are  the  galleries  reserved  for  the  Senate 

Diplomatic  Corps  and  for  Senators’  families.  The  end  galleries  are  open  Galleries, 
to  the  public,  the  eastern  one  being  set  apart  for  women,  who  will  find  a 
convenient  parlor  and  retiring-room,  with  a  woman  attendant,  at  its  northern  extremity. 
A  plan  of  the  Senators’  seats  may  be  obtained  from  the  doorkeepers. 

Busts  of  all  the  Vice-Presidents  are  being  placed  in  niches  in  the  walls,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  roster,  with  the  names  of  the  sculptors  : 

John  Adams  (Daniel  C.  French),  Thomas  Jefferson  (M.  Ezekiel),  Aaron  Burr  (Jacques 
Joavenal),  George  Clinton  (Victor  A.  Crane),  El])ridge  Gerry  (Herbert 
Adams),  Daniel  Tompkins  (C.  H.  Niehaus),  Martin  Van  Buren  (U.  S.  J.  BustS  of 

Dunbar),  George  M.  Dallas  (H.  J.  Ellicott),  Hannibal  Hamlin  (Franklin  Yicc- 

Simmons),  Henry  Wilson  (Daniel  C.  French),  W,  A.  Wheeler  (Edwin  Presidents. 
Potter),  Chester  A.  Arthur  (Aug.  St.  Gaudens),  Thomas  A.  Hendricks 
(U.  S.  J.  Dunbar),  Levi  P.  Morton  (F.  Edwin  Elwell),  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  (Franklin 
Simmons),  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  R.  M.  Johnson. 


34 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Outside  the  Senate  Chamber  many  interesting  things  are  to-be  seen  on  the  main 
floor.  Turning  to  the  right  from  the  main  or  rotunda  entrance  to  the  wing  (and  to  the 
floor  of  the  chamber),  you  find  on  the  end  wall  a  famous  portrait  (head)  of  Washington 
by  Gilbert  Stuart,  which  was  bought  by  Congress  in  1876,  from  ex-Senator  Chestnut 
of  South  Carolina,  for  $1,200,  Opposite  it  is  a  bright  portrait  of  John  Adams,  copied 
by  Andrews  from  Gilbert  Stuart.  Passing  through  the  door  between 
Eastern  these  portraits,  and  turning  to  the  left,  you  come  to  the  magnificent  east- 

Staircase.  ern  staircase  of  Tennessee  marble,  illuminated  by  a  rich  skylight  of 

stained  glass.  At  its  foot  stands  Powers’  marble  statue  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  which  cost  $10,000.  The  wall  of  the  sta’r  landing  bears  Powell’s  striking 
painting  (an  enlarged  copy,  for  which  $25,000  was  paid  by  contract  in  1873,  of  an  earliei 
picture,  1863,  made  by  Powell  for  the  State  of  Ohio)  of  Com.  Oliver  P.  Perry  at  the 
battle  of  Lake  Erie,  in  1810,  transferring  himself  and  his  flag  from  his  sinking  flagship 
‘  Lawrence  ”  to  the  “Niagara,”  in  which  he  won  a  signal  victory. 

This  transfer  was  made  under  fire.  Perry’s  younger  brother,  Matthew  (who  after¬ 
ward  opened  Japan  to  the  world),  was  then  a  midshipman,  and  is  depicted  here  as 
entreating  his  brother  and  commander  not  to  expose  himself  so  recklessly.  The  faces 
of  the  sailors  were  drawn  from  once  well-known  employes  about  the  Capitol. 

Just  beyond  the  staircase  is  a  noble  vestibule,  with  coupled  columns,  having  Corin¬ 
thian  capitals,  designed  by  Latrobe,  though  usually  credited  to  Jefferson,  composed 
of  a  most  graceful  arrangement  of  Indian  corn  and  tobacco  leaves  in  place  of  the  con¬ 
ventional  acanthus.  They  are  of  white  marble,  but  the  walls  are  of  scagliola.  A  bust 
of  President  John  Tyler  is  the  only  ornament.  This  vestibule  (where  there  is  an  elevator) 
opens  upon  the  eastern  portico  through  the  Senate  Bronze  Doors  designed  by  Thomas 
Crawford,  cast  by  J.  T.  Ames  at  Chicopee,  Mass.,  and  set  up  here  in  1868. 

These  doors  are  equally  interesting,  and  the  workmanship  is  as  fine  as  is  that  of 
the  Rogers  doors.  The  upper  panel  of  each  valve  (one  of  which  represents  War  and  the 
other  Peace,  as  typified  in  the  figures  in  the  foot-panel  of  each  half)  con- 
Crawford  tains  a  star  surrounded  by  oak  leaves,  and  acts  as  a  ventilator.  There  are 
Bronze  Doors,  six  panels,  constituting  the  body  of  the  door,  in  which  are  represented, 
in  alto-relievo,  events  connected  with  the  Revolution,  the  foundation  of 
our  Government,  and  the  erection  of  the  Capitol,  chronologically  as  follows:  The  battles 
of  Bunker  Hill,  Monmouth,  and  Yorktown;  the  welcome  of  Washington  in  Trenton  on 
his  way  to  New  York  in  1789  (the  same  panel  contains  portraits  of  the  sculptor,  his  wife, 
three  children,  and  of  Rogers,  the  sculptor  of  the  main  door);  the  inauguration  of  Wash¬ 
ington  in  1789,  and  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Capitol,  September  18,  1793.  The 
prominent  figures  are  all  likenesses.  In  the  inauguration  scene  John  Adams  stands  on 
Washington’s  right;  Chancellor  Livingston  administers  the  oath,  and  Mr.  Otis  holds  the 
Bible.  The  remaining  figures  are  Alexander  Hamilton,  Generals  Knox  and  St.  Clair, 
Roger  Sherman,  and  Baron  Steuben,  The  frame  over  the  door  is  supported  by  enriched 
brackets.  The  ornamentation  is  scroll-work  and  acanthus,  with  the  cotton  boll,  stalks 
and  ears  of  corn,  grapes,  and  entwining  vines.  Above  the  door  are  two  sculptured 
figures  in  American  marble  representing  Justice  and  History  by  Crawford,  whose  price 
was  $3,000.  It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  Crawford  designed  the  figures  that  fill  the 
pediment  of  this  portico.  This  bronze  door  was  his  latest  work;  he  was  paid  $6,000 
for  the  designs,  and  William  H.  Rinehart  was  given  $8,940  for  the  plaster  model,  while 
the  casting  (14,000  pounds)  cost  $50,500. 

Returning  into  the  vestibule,  it  is  well  to  turn  aside  through  the  first  door,  at  the 
right,  and  see  Brumidi’s  excellent  frescoes  in  the  room  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  the 
District  of  Columbia.  This  was  originally  assigned  to  be  the  Senate  post  oflice,  whence 
the  artist’s  choice  of  History,  Geography,  Physics,  and  the  Telegraph  as  subjects  for  his 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


35 


brush.  The  figures  in  each  design  are  large  and  strikingly  drawn,  and  the  decorative 
accessories  are  most  pleasing. 

This  vestibule  opens  at  its  inner  end  on  the  right  into  the  Senate  Reception-room,  an 
apartment  sixty  feet  long,  but  divided  by  an  arch,  where  Senators  receive  callers  — 
especially  ladies  —  upon  business.  It  is  gaudily  ornate.  The  floor  is  of 
Minton  tiles,  and  the  walls  are  covered  with  rococo  designs  in  stucco,  in  Reception- 

high  relief,  and  heavily  gilded.  The  vaulted  ceiling  has  also  many  roOm. 

gilded  stucco  ornaments,  and  certain  panels  are  embellished  with  allegor¬ 
ical  frescoes  by  Brumidi  entitled  “Liberty,”  “Plenty,”  “Peace,”  “War,”  “Pru¬ 
dence,”  “Justice,”  “  Temperance,”  and  “Strength”;  while  an  excellently  drawn  and 
brilliantly  colored  mural  painting,  under  the  arch  on  the  south  wall,  depicts  Washington 
in  conference  with  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  —  one  of  the  best  things  in  the  Capitol. 

This  room  opens  eastwardly  into  the  office  of  the  sergeant-at-arms,  where  a  very  large 
ceiling  painting  is  visible,  and  westwardly  it  opens  into  the  lobby. 

In  the  Senate  Lobby,  entering  from  the  public  reception-room,  as  above  noted,  the 
first  door  at  the  right  opens  into  the  Vice-President’s  Room,  where  Henry  Wilson  died, 
November  22,  1875,  and  whose  bust  by  Daniel  C.  French  remains  here  as  a  memento. 
The  next  door  admits  to  the  Marble  Room  —  a  large  senatorial  reception 
or  withdrawing  room,  popularly  so  called  because  every  part  of  its  Yice- 

interior  is  formed  of  variegated  and  sculptured  marbles,  all  from  East  President’s 
Tennessee  except  the  white  Italian  capitals  and  ceilings.  Here  the  “grave  and  I'larble 
and  reverend”  Senators  hold  consultations  at  ease,  or  receive  their  Rooms. 

more  privileged  guests.  Luxurious  chairs,  soft  sofas,  warm  rugs,  and 
lace  curtains  abound,  and  the  room  is  dazzling  at  night  when  all  the  lights  are  aglow. 

The  self-registering  thermometers,  barometers,  wind-indicators,  etc.,  to  be  seen  here, 
furnish  a  branch  station  of  the  U.  S.  Weather  Service  ;  and  the  officer  in  charge  records 
the  phases  of  the  weather  all  over  the  country  upon  the  glass  face  of  a 
map  in  a  most  interesting  way.  The  House  enjoys  a  similar  substation.  Weather 

Next  west  of  this  splendid  saloon  is  the  President’s  room,  another  ornate  Service, 

apartment  where  it  has  been  the  custom  since  Andrew  Johnson’s  time 
(except  in  Cleveland’s  case)  for  Presidents  to  sit  during  the  last  day  of  a  congressional 

session,  in  order  to  be  ready 
to  sign  bills  requiring  an 
immediate  signature.  This 
room  is  brilliantly  deco¬ 
rated,  including  medallion 
portraits  of 

President  President’s 
Washington  Room, 

and  promi¬ 
nent  members  of  his  first 
Cabinet  —  Thomas  Jeffer¬ 
son,  Secretary  of  State ; 
Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of 
War;  Alexander  Hamilton, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ; 
Edmund  Randolph,  Attor¬ 
ney-General,  and  Samuel 
Osgood,  Postmaster- 
General.  The  four  corner- 
frescoes  overhead  represent 


PERRY  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE. 
Painting  by  Powell.  Eastern  Staircase. 


36 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Columbus  (Discovery),  Ves- 
pucius  (Exploration), 

Franklin  (History),  and 
William  Brewster  (Reli¬ 
gion).  Between  these  are 
symbolic  figures  of  Liberty, 

Legislation,  Religion,  and 
Executive  Power.  All  this 
work  is  by  the  versatile 
Brumidi,  and  in  his  best 
vein.  The  tiling  of  this 
and  (-f  the  adjoining  rooms 
is  covered  in  winter  by 
rich  carpeting. 

This  lobby  and  the 
three  rooms  last  named  are 

not  visible  the  grand  canon  of  the  Yellowstone. 

Western  during  ses-  Painting  by  Thomas  Moran. 

Staircase.  sions  of  Congress,  except  by  the  courtesy  of  some  Senator.  The  rooms 
opening  from  the  corridor  west  of  the  Senate  Chamber  belong  to  the 
clerks  and  certain  committees  and  call  for  no  special  remark.  The  visitor  maj'  there¬ 
fore  pass  on  at  once  to  the  Western  Grand  Staircase  of  white  American  marble  and 

ascend  to  the  gallery  fioor 
Dr.  Horatio  Stone’s 
statue  of  John  Hancock 
stands  at  the  foot  of  this 
staircase.  It  was  sculptured 
in  1861,  and  bought  for 
$5,500  On  the  wall  of  the 
landing  is  the  large  paint¬ 
ing,  by  Walker,  of  the 
“  Storming  of  Chepultepec” 
(captured  b}'  Scott’s  army 
on  September  18,  184T,  dur¬ 
ing  the  Mexican  War),  for 
which  $6,000  was  paid. 
Roose  sa3"s  that  it  was“orig- 
inally  painted  for  a  panel 
in  the  Committee-room  of 
Military  Affairs  of  the  House,  and  doubtless  will  eveutuall}^  be  placed  there.”  At  the 
head  of  the  stairway  hangs  a  full-length  portrait  of  Washington,  by  Charles  Wilson  Peale, 
painted  in  1779,  the  first  sittings  for  which  were  given  at  Valley  Forge. 

This  west  corridor  admits  one  to  the  gentlemen’s  and  to  one  of  the  reserved 
Senate  galleries  of  the  Senate,  and  to  numerous  committee-rooms.  The  rooms 

Galleries.  in  the  northern  front  of  the  wing  behind  the  press  gallery,  are  not  public. 

Turning  to  the  right  from  the  elevator,  or  from  the  head  of  the  stairs,  let 
us  walk  around  through  the  south  corridor,  whose  doors  admit  to  the  Senate  galleries, 
to  the  head  of  the  eastern 
grand  stairwajL  Beyond  the 
stairway  are  two  of  the  most 
interesting  rooms  in  the 
building,  a  hall  looking 
out  upon  the  plaza,  and 
another,  adjoining,  having  a 
delightful  prospect  north¬ 
ward.  These  rooms  not  onl}’’ 
contain  fine  tiling  and  mural 
decorations,  but  some  nota¬ 
ble  paintings.  In  the  former 
are  a  portrait  of  John  C. 

Calhoun,  and  Moran’s  cele¬ 
brated  pictures  of  the  canons 
of  the  Colorado  and  of  the 
Yellowstone,  which  were 


the  first  fight  of  the  ironclads. 

Painting  by  W.  F.  Halsall.  Lobby  of  Senate  Gallery. 


THE  CHASM  OF  THE  COLORADO. —  Painting  by  Thomas  Moran. 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


37 


painted  from  actual  studies,  and  sold  to  the  Government  for  $10,000  each.  Those  famil¬ 
iar  with  these  marvelous  regions  of  the  country  know  that  the  coloring  is  by  no  means 
too  vivid,  and  that  the  drawing  is  highly  expressive.  This  room  opens  into  the  gallery 
for  Senators’  families,  the  first  and  second  seats  of  which  are  reserved  for  the  President 
and  Vice-President,  and  their  friends. 

The  adjoining  hall  (from  which  opens  a  ladies’  retiring-room,  with  a  woman  attend¬ 
ant)  has  the  painting  representing  the  encounter  between  the  Monitor  and  Merrimac, 

painted  by 

Halsaii,  and  Paintings 
purchased  and 

in  1877  for  Portraits. 
$15,000,  the 

only  exception  to  the  rule 
that  no  reminder  of  the 
Civil  War  shall  be  placed 
in  the  Capitol,  an  exception 
due  to  the  fact  that  this 
was  in  reality  a  drawn 
battle,  where  the  courage 
of  the  contestants  was  con¬ 
spicuously  equal,  and 
where  the  naval  methods 
of  the  world  were  revolu¬ 
tionized.  Its  historical 
interest  is  therefore  world¬ 
wide.  Here  also  are  por¬ 
traits  of  Lincoln  and  Gar¬ 
field,  in  Italian  mosaic,  the 
gift  of  Signor  Salviati  of 

Venice,  Italy;  a  portrait 
THE  ELECTORAL  COMMISSION.  Sumner!  by  W. 

Painting  by  Mrs.  Cornelia  A.  Fassett.  In  Lobby  of  Senate  Gallery.  Ingalls  dated  1870  '  and 

one  of  Gen.  John  A.  Dix,  by  Imogene  Robinson  Morrell,  dated  1883.  It  was  John  A.  Dix, 
afterward  a  Major-General,  Senator,  and  Governor  of  New  York,  who,  when  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  in  1861,  sent  to  one  of  his  special  agents  in  Louisiana  the  famous  order  con¬ 
taining  the  words  :  “If  anyone  attempts  to  haul  down  the  American  fiag  shoot  him  on 
the  spot,”  which  so  thrilled  patriotic  hearts.  Here  also  are  several  busts 
of  high  artistic  excellence,  as  well  as  historic  interest.  These  are  of  Kos-  BustS. 

ciusko,  the  Hungarian  patriot,  by  H.  D.  Saunders ;  of  Count  Pulaski, 

Polish  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  by  H.  D.  Mochowski ;  of  Thomas  Crawford,  the 
sculptor,  by  Gogliardi,  and  a  marble  head  of  Bee-Shee-Kee,  a  Chippewa  Indian. 

A  small  special  elevator  makes  this  room  directly  accessible  from  the  basement ;  and 
descending  by  it,  or  by  the  eastern  grand  stairway,  to  the  main  floor,  one  walks  to  the 
main  corridor,  where,  upon  the  wall  at  the  western  end,  hang  beautiful  portraits  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  a  copy  from  an  original  by  Thomas  Sully,  and  of  Patrick  Plenry,  a 
copy  by  Matthews,  from  an  original  by  Sully,  an  eminent  painter  of  portraits  and  his¬ 
torical  pictures,  who  died  in  Boston  in  1872.  The  portraits  on  the  eastern  wall  have 
already  been  described.  The  survey  of  the  Senate  wing  has  now  been  finished,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  Chamber  is  next  to  be  inspected.  This  is  reached  by  the  main  passage¬ 
way  leading  from  the  Senate  to  the  rotunda.  Here,  as  soon  as  the  older  part  of  the 
building  is  entered,  one  comes  to  the  door  of  the  Supreme  Court,  guarded  by  an 
attendant  who  will  admit  visitors  upon  all  proper  occasions. 

Beginning  with  the  resort  of  the  populace  in  the  rotunda,  the  visitor  has 
now  inspected  in  succession  the  halls  of  the  lower  and  upper  house  of  Congress, 
and  now  concludes  with  the  tribunal  which  passes  upon  the  validity  of  the  laws  they 
pass.  To  sit  at  the  rear  of  this  old  hall  when  the  court  is  in  session,  as  happens  five 
days  in  the  week,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  is  an  impressive  experience. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  now  occupies  the  chamber 
in  the  old  Capitol  designed  for  the  Senate,  and  occupied  by  that  body  Supreme 

from  1800  until  the  completion  of  the  new  wing  in  1859.  Previously  it  CoUft. 

sat  in  the  hall,  prepared  for  it,  beneath  this  one. 

This  chamber  was  designed  by  Latrobe,  and  its  general  resemblance  to  the  old  Hall 
of  Representatives  (Statuary  Hall)  will  be  noted  ,  but  it  is  smaller,  measuring  75  by  45 
feet  wide,  and  45  feet  high  to  the  zenith  of  the  low  half-dome.  Beneath  the  wide  arch  of 


38 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASIIINGTOlSr. 


/  / 

■ 

SUPREME  COURT  CHAMBER. 


the  rear  wall  is  a  row  of  columns  of  variegated  gray  Potomac  marble,  with  white  Ionic  capi¬ 
tals,  in  the  center  of  which  was  placed  the  chair  of  the  President  of  the  Senate,  draped,  as 
now,  by  crimson  curtains  and  surmounted  by  a  hovering  eagle.  On  the  dais  below  him 
were  the  desks  of  the  clerks,  where  now  stands  the  long  “bench”  of  the  most  august 
court  in  the  land.  At  the  right  of  the  “  bench”  is  the  clerk  of  the  court,  at  the  left  the 
Marshal ;  and  the  tables  of  the  Attorney-General,  official  reporters,  stenographers,  and 
counsel  legally  admitted  to  practice  here,  occupy  the  semicircular  carpeted  “bar” 
formerly  covered  by  the  desks  of  Senators.  In  the  rear  are  public  seats  ;  but  the  light 
iron  galleries  formerly  built  overhead  have  been  removed,  and  the  walls,  with  their  mar¬ 
ble  pilasters  and  busts  of  past  Chief  Justices,  are  now  wholly  visible.  The  list  of  busts 
is  as  follows  :  At  the  left  of  the  clock  (as  you  face  the  Court),  (1)  John 
Busts  of  Jay  (1789  to  1795).  (2)  Oliver  Ellsworth  (1796  to  1799).  (3)  Roger  B. 

Justices.  Taney  (1835  to  1864).  (4)  Morrisson  R.  Waite  (1874  to  1888).  On  the 

right  of  the  clock  :  (1)  John  Rutledge  (an  Associate  Justice  nominated  in 
1795,  but  never  confirmed).  (2)  John  Marshall  (1801  to  1835).  (3)  Salmon  P.  Chase 

(1865  to  1873).  The  Justices,  who,  upon  court  days,  enter  in  procession  precisely  at 
noon,  wearing  the  voluminous  black  silk  gowns  which  alone  remain  in  the  United 
States  of  the  traditional  costume  of  the  English  judiciar}^  sit  in  a  prescribed  order  of 
seniority.  In  the  center  is  the  Chief  Justice  ;  upon  his  right  hand  is  the  Associate  Jus¬ 
tice  longest  in  service,  and  beyond  him  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  ;  and  then,  upon 
the  left  of  the  Chief  Justice,  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth,  or  youngest  in  rank 
of  appointment.  The  court  is  at  present  composed  as  follows,  in  order  of  seniority  : 
The  Chief  Justice,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  appointed  in  1888  ;  Associate  Justices,  John  M. 
Harlan,  1877  ;  Horace  Gray,  1881  ;  David  J.  Brewer,  1889  ;  Henry  B.  Brown,  1891  ; 
George  Shiras,  Jr.,  1892;  Edward  D.  White,  1894;  Rufus  Peckham,  1895;  and  Joseph 
McKenna,  1898. 

The  robing- room,  where  the  Justices  meet  informally  and  don  their  robes,  is  a  hand¬ 
some  parlor,  with  much  antique  furniture,  west  of  the  corridor,  and  is  adorned  with 
some  notable  portraits  of  the  Chief  Justices  of  the  past. 

Robing'  The  portrait  of  John  Jay,  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  represents  him  arrayed  in  a 
room.  black  satin  robe  with  broad  scarlet  facings.  It  was  a  gift  to  the  court  by 

his  grandson,  John  Jay,  late  Minister  to  Austria.  That  of  Taney,  by  Healy, 
was  presented  by  the  Washington  Bar  Association.  The  portrait  of  Chief  Justice 


A  TOUR  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 


39 


Marshall  is  by  Rembrandt  Peale,  and  was  presented  to  Chief  Justice  Chase  by  the  Bar 
of  New  York,  and  at  his  death  was  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Neighboring  rooms  are  devoted  to  court  officers  and  clerks.  The  entrance  to  the 
Senate  Library,  on  the  floor  above,  is  nearly  opposite  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

A  short  corridor  (from  which  opens  the  winding  stairway  that  leads  to  the  top  of  the 
dome)  conducts  you  from  the  door  of  the  Supreme  Court  into  the  rotunda,  and  com¬ 
pletes  the  tour  of  the  Capitol. 

The  western  front  of  the  Capitol  is  directly  reached  by  leaving  the  rotunda  through 
the  western  door  and  passing  downstairs  beneath  the  apartment  formerly  occupied  by 
the  Library  of  Congress,  when  you  will  emerge  upon  the  terrace. 

Looking  back,  you  perceive  the  pillared  and  harmonious  addition  made  to  the  original 
design  of  the  building  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Library  of  Congress.  It  was  first 
erected  and  occupied  in  1824,  after  designs  by  Latrobe.  In  1851  it  was 
burned  out,  over  80,000  books  and  some  valuable  paintings  being  lost.  Western 

Its  restoration  was  immediately  begun  by  Thomas  U.  Walter,  who  added  Front, 

the  two  side  halls,  expending  $300, 000  in  the  reconstruction.  The  library 
was  moved  in  1897  to  the  magnificent  building  east  of  the  Capitol  grounds  described 
in  the  next  chapter. 

The  terrace  is  a  broad  esplanade,  separated  from  the  basement  of  the  building  by  a 
kind  of  moat,  which  permits  light  and  air  to  enter  the  lowest  story,  and  adds 
largely  to  the  solidity  and  architectural  grandeur  of  the  Capitol  when  viewed  from  below. 
Underneath  this  terrace  are  a  series  of  casemate-like  apartments,  which  were  put  to  a 
novel  use  during  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War,  when  this  part  of  the  building  had 
just  been  put  into  form. 

The  Capitol  in  war  time  was  a  citadel.  Its  halls  and  committee-rooms  were  used  as 
barracks  for  the  soldiers,  who  barricaded  the  outer  doors  with  barrels  of  cement  between 
the  pillars  ;  its  basement  galleries  were  converted  into  storerooms  for  army  provisions  ; 
and  the  vaults  under  this  terrace  were  converted  into  bakeries,  where  16,000  loaves 

of  bread  were  baked  every  day  for  many 
months.  In  Harper’s  excellent  “  Cyclopae¬ 
dia  of  United  States  History,”  p.  947,  may 
be  seen  a  picture  of  this  service,  with  the 
smoke  pouring  out  of  improvised  chim¬ 
neys  along  the  outer  edge.  The  ‘  ‘bakeries” 
are  now  clerks’  offices  and  congressional 
committee-rooms. 

Broad  flights  of  stairs,  parting  right 
and  left  about  a  fountain,  lead  down  to  a 
lower  terrace,  in  the  center  of  which  is  the 
bronze  sitting  figure  of  Chief  Justice  John 
Marshall.  The  artist  is  the 
renowned  American  sculp-  I'larshall 

tor,  Wm.  W.  Story,  who  Statue, 

died  in  Rome  in  1895.  This 
statue,  which  was  executed  in  Italy,  was 
presented  to  the  United  States  by  members 
of  the  bar,  while  Congress  supplied  the 
pedestal.  It  was  erected  in  1884,  and  cost 
$40,000.  The  Chief  Justice,  whose  por¬ 
trait  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  one,  is  rep¬ 
resented  as  seated  in  his  accustomed  court¬ 
room  chair  and  wearing  his  official  robe, 
while  his  open  hand  appears  to  be  a  gesture 
enforcing  some  evident  truth  or  benign 
decision.  Each  side  of  the  marble  pedestal 
bears  a  group  in  low  relief  —  one,  “  Minerva 
Dictating  the  Constitution  to  Young  Amer¬ 
ica,”  and  the  other,  “Victory  Leading 
Young  America  to  Swear  Fidelity  on  the 
Altar  of  the  Union.” 

From  this  statue  broad  walks  descend  to 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  the  Naval  Monu¬ 
ment  on  the  right  and  to  Maryland  Avenue 
and  the  Garfield  Monument  on  the  left. 


STATUE  OF  CHIEF  JUSTICE  JOHN  MARSHALL 
By  W.  W.  Story. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CON( 


SS.  —  From  the 


Capitol. 


42 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON 


>tNAiUH:>  M 
I1N6  ROOM 

rxlr 


MAIN  ENTRANCE 

FIRST  STORY  PLAN. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS.. 


Floor  Plans  Prepared  under  the  Direction  of  Mr.  Bernard  R.  Green,  Superintendent 

of  the  Library  Building  and  Grounds. 


First  Story. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  by  John  "W.  Alexander. 
(The  Evolution  of  the  Book.) 

1.  The  Cairn. 

2.  Oral  Tradition. 

3.  Egyptian  Hieroglyphics. 

4.  Picture  Writing. 

5.  The  Manuscript  Book. 

6.  The  Printing  Press. 

Paintings  by  Charles  Sprague 
Pearce. 

1.  The  Family. 

2.  Eecreation. 

3.  Study. 

4.  Labor. 

5.  Religion. 

6.  “  Give  Instruction  Unto 

Those  Who  Cannot  Pro¬ 
cure  It  for  Themselves.” 

7.  Rest. 

Paintings  by  Elihu  Vedder 

1.  Anarchy. 

2.  Corrupt  Legislation. 

3.  Government. 

4.  Good  Administration. 

5.  Peace  and  Prosperity. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL 
Continued. 

Paintings  by  H.  O.  Walker. 

1.  Lyric  Poetry. 

2.  Comus. 

3.  Adonis. 

4.  Ganymede. 

5.  Endymlon. 

6.  The  Boy  of  Wlnander. 

7.  Uriel. 

8.  “The  Poets  Who  on  Earth 

Have  Made  Us  Heirs  of 
Truth  and  Pure  Pelight 
by  Heavenly  Lays.” 

CORRIPOR  LEADING  SOUTH  FROM 
MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  by  W.  McEwen. 

1.  Paris. 

2.  Jason. 

3.  Bellerophon. 

4.  Orpheus. 

5.  Perseus. 

6.  Prometheus. 

7.  Theseus. 

8.  Achilles. 

9.  Hercules. 


REPRESENTATIVES’  READING- 
ROOM. 

Mosaics  bv  Frederick  Dlelman. 

A  Law. 

B  History. 

Ceiling  Paintings  by  Carl  Gutherz. 

1.  Creation  of  Light. 

2.  Light  of  Excellence. 

3.  Light  of  Poetry. 

4.  Light  of  State. 

5.  Research.  The  Light  of. 

6.  Truth.  “  “ 

7.  Science.  “  “ 

corridor  le.\dtno  north  from 
MAIN  entrance  HALL. 
Paintings  bv  Edward  Simmons. 

1.  .Melpomene. 

2.  Clio. 

3.  Thalia. 

4.  2uterpe. 

5.  Terpsichore. 

6.  Erato. 

7.  Polyhymnia. 

8.  Urania. 

9.  Calliope. 

NORTHWEST  PAVILION. 

Paintings  by  R.  L.  Dodge. 


LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 


43 


SECOND  STORY  PLAN. 

Second  Story. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  by  Walter  Shlrlaw. 

1.  Archeology. 

2.  Botany. 

3.  Astronomy. 

4.  Chemistry. 

5.  Geology. 

6.  Mathematics. 

7.  Physics. 

8.  Zoology. 

Paintings  by  George  R.  Barse,  Jr. 

1.  Lyrlca. 

2.  Tragedy. 

3.  Comedy. 

4.  History. 

5.  Erotica. 

6.  Tradition. 

7.  Fancy. 

8.  Romance. 

Paintings  by  William  A.  Mackay. 

9.  Atropos. 

10  T  achesis. 

11.  Clotho. 

Paintings  by  Robert  Reid. 

1.  Taste. 

2.  Sight. 

3.  Smell. 

4.  Hearing. 

5.  Touch. 

6.  Wisdom. 

7.  Understanding. 

8.  Knowledge. 

9.  Philosophy. 

Paintings  by  F.  W.  Benson. 

1.  Spring. 

2.  Summer. 

3.  Autumn. 

4.  Winter. 

5.  Aglala. 

6.  Thalia. 

7.  Euphrosyne. 


Pompeiian  Panels  by  G.  W.  May¬ 
nard. 

A  Fortitude. 

B  Justice. 

C  Concordia. 

D  Industry. 

F  Patriotism. 

F  Courage. 

G  Temperance. 

H  Prudence. 

Paintings  by  W.  B.  Van  Ingen. 

1.  L’Aliegro. 

2.  II  Penseroso. 

Mosaic  by  Ellhu  Vedder. 

3.  Minerva. 

CORRIDOR  LEADING  SOUTH  FROM 
MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  by  Kenyon  Cox. 

1.  The  Sciences. 

2.  The  Arts. 

SOUTHWEST  PAVILION. 

Paintings  by  G.  W.  Maynard. 

1.  Adventure. 

2.  Discovery. 

3.  Conquest. 

4.  Civilization. 

5.  Courage  — Valor —Forti¬ 

tude—  Achievement. 
Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 

A  Seed. 

B  Bloom. 

C  Fruit. 

D  Decay. 

SOUTHEAST  PAVILION. 

Paintings  by  R.  L.  Dodge. 

1.  Earth. 

2.  Water 

3.  Fire. 

4.  Air. 


Painting  by  Elmer  E.  Garnsey. 

5.  Celling  Disc. 

Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 

A  Ver. 

B  Aestas. 

C  Auctumnus. 

D  Hlems. 

CORRIDOR  LEADING  NORTH  FROM 
MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL. 

Paintings  by  Gari  Melchers. 

1.  War. 

2.  Peace. 

NORTHWEST  PAVILION. 

Paintings  by  William  de  L.  Dodge. 

1.  Science. 

2.  Art. 

3.  Music. 

4.  Literature. 

5.  Ambition. 

Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 

A  Spring. 

B  Summer. 

C  Autumn. 

D  Winter. 

NORTHEAST  PAVILION. 
Paintings  by  W.  B.  Van  Ingen. 

1.  Agriculture  and  Interior 

Departments. 

2.  War  and  Navy  Departments 

3.  Justice  and  Post  Office  De- 

pariments. 

4.  Treasury  and  State  Depart¬ 

ments. 

Painting  by  Elmer  E.  Garnsey. 

5.  Ceiling  Disc. 

Medallions  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 

A  Spring. 

B  Summer. 

C  Autumn. 

D  Winter. 


.(  ;0N 

.-=vtory 

^44TrV**C^»'- 

..rAT;>T«CS 
ffA'NT  »NC 

i'vCwl^Am 


'V^y  VAvy 
NA»JC« 


Marble  Mosaic  by  Elihu  Vedder. 


MINERVA, 


'^r// . 'ilii*«1*5*'*’ 


III. 


THE  LIBRAKY  OF  CONGRESS. 


The  Library  of  Congress, 
which  originated  with  the 
purchase  in 

London  in  Origin  Of 
1802  of  some  Library. 
3,000  books 

of  reference,  was  used  as 
kindling  material  by  the 
vandals  who  gleefully 
burned  the  Capitol  and  its 
records  in  1814.  A  new 
foundation  was  laid  by  the 
purchase  of  Thomas  Jeffer¬ 
son’s  private  library,  and  in 
1851  the  collection  had  in¬ 
creased  to  60,000  volumes, 
when  half  of  it,  or  more, 
was  again  swept  away  by 
fire.  After  this  damage 
was  repaired  by  the  recon¬ 
struction  of  the  western 
front  of  the  Capitol,  the 
growth  was  rapid,  and  the 
shelf-room  speedily  over¬ 
flowed. 

The  arrangement  by 
which  the  library  received 
and  continues  to  receive  all 

I 

the  publications  acquired 
by  the  Smithsonian  system 
of  international  exchanges, 
the  Peter  Force*  and  Doc¬ 
tor  Toner  historical  collec¬ 
tions  of  rare  books,  pam¬ 
phlets,  engravings,  etc.,  and  the  steady  accumulations  under  the  action  of  the  copy- 
right  law  have  been  the  principal  nuclei.  Congress  was  very  liberal  to  the  library  in 
its  earlier  days,  and  now  makes  large  annual  appropriations  for  its  support.  It  now 
contains  over  1,000,000  books  and  pamphlets  alone,  and  nearly  half  a  million  pieces 
of  music,  maps,  prints,  photographs,  manuscripts,  etc. 

*  Peter  Force  was  born  in  1790,  became  a  prominent  printer  in  New  York,  and  settled  in  Wash¬ 
ington  in  1812,  where  he  died  in  1868,  after  a  useful  life  as  printer,  editor,  and  publicist.  He  collected 
an  immense  amount  of  material  for  a  documentary  history  of  the  American  colonies  and  Revolution, 
of  which  nine  volumes  were  published.  His  collection  of  documents,  manuscripts,  pamphlets,  pictures, 
etc.,  was  bought  by  the  Government  for  $100,000. 


BRONZE  DOOR  "  TRADITION.”— Mam  Entrance. 
By  Olin  L.  Warner. 


45 


46  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

This  collection  is  very  rich  in  history,  political  science,  jurisprudence,  and  books 
pamphlets,  and  periodicals  of  American  publication,  or  relating  in  any  way  to  America 
At  the  same  time  the  library  is  a  universal  one  in  its  range,  no  depart- 
Treasurcs.  ment  of  literature  or  science  being  unrepresented.  The  public  are  privi¬ 
leged  to  use  the  books  within  the  library  rooms,  while  members  of  Con¬ 
gress  and  about  thirty  officials  of  the  Government  only  may  take  them  away.  The 
library  is  open  every  day  (Sundays  excepted),  from  9  o’clock  in  the  morning  until  10 
o’clock  at  night,  and  the  evening  is  an  exceedingly  favorable  time  to  see  it. 

As  long  ago  as  1872  efforts  were  made  to  provide  the  library  with  a  separate  build¬ 
ing  ;  but  it  was  not  until  1897  that  this  laudable  purpose  was  accomplished.  The  fact 
that  the  Librarian  has  charge  (since  1870)  of  the  copyright  business  of  the  Government, 
ind  that  this  library  is  given  and  compelled  to  receive  two  copies  of  every  book,  picture, 
or  other  article  copyrighted,  makes  its  growth  as  rapid  and  steady  as  the  progress  of  the 
American  press,  and  enforces  the  need  for  ample  space.  Innumerable  difficulties  and 
chimerical  schemes  were  overcome  before  Congress  at  last  purchased— by  condemna¬ 
tion,  for  it  was  covered  with  dwelling-houses  —  the  present  site  (ten  acres,  east  of  the 
Capitol  grounds)  for  a  new  Library  of  Congress,  paying  $585,000  for  the  property. 
Work  was  begun  in  1886,  but  not  much  was  accomplished  until  1888-9,  when  the  work 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  T.  L.  Casey,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  under  whose 
charge,  and  the  superintendence  of  Bernard  R.  Green,  C.  E.,  the  magnificent  edifice  was 
perfected  in  1897.  The  architectural  plans,  originally  by  J.  J.  Smithmeyer  and  Paul  J. 
Pelz,  were  modified  later  by  E.  P.  Casey,  who  completed  the  building  and  its  decora¬ 
tion.  As  to  the  interior,  Mr.  Casey  was  assisted  by  Elmer  E.  Garnsey,  in  charge  of  the 
color  decorations,  and  by  Albert  Weinert  as  to  the  stucco  work  ;  both  gentlemen  should 
receive  credit  for  much  beautiful  unsigned  work. 

The  style  is  Italian  renaissance  modified  ;  and  the  result  is  one  of  the  noblest  edifices 
externally,  and  the  most  artistic  one  inside,  of  all  the  grand  buildings  at  the  Capitol.  Its 
ground  plan  is  an  oblong  square,  inclosing  four  courts  and  a  rotunda. 
Architec-  Its  outside  dimensions  are  470  by  340  feet,  and  it  covers  three  and  three- 

ture  and  quarters  acres  of  ground.  The  material  is  Concord  (N.  H.)  granite. 

Style.  exteriorly,  and  enameled  brick  within  the  courts,  while  the  framework  is 

of  steel,  and  the  walls  interiorly  are  encased  and  decorated  wholly  by 
stucco  and  marble.  The  octagonal  rotunda,  lighted  by  the  four  courts,  is  built  of  gray 
Maryland  granite,  and  crowned  by  a  roof-dome  of  copper,  the  dome  heavily  gilded,  and 
terminating,  195  feet  above  the  ground,  in  a  gilded  torch  of  Learning.  The  general 
effect  of  such  a  building  is  of  massiveness  disproportionate  to  height,  but  this  is  relieved 
by  “pavilions”  at  the  corners,  by  elaborate  entrances,  numerous  windows,  and  the  high 
ornamentation  of  the  exterior  cornices,  window-casings,  etc. 

The  decorations  are  wholly  the  work  of  American  architects,  painters. 
Decorations*  and  sculptors,  more  than  fifty  of  whom  participated  in  the  work;  so  that 
the  library  is  an  exhibit  and  memorial  of  the  native  art  and  ability  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Approaches,  Entrance,  and  Vestibule. 

The  Approaches  and  Entrance  to  the  library  are  on  the  western  front,  facing 
the  Capitol,  where  a  grand  staircase  leads  up  to  doorways  of  the  central  pavilion 
admitting  one  upon  the  main  floor. 

The  basement  may  be  entered  by  a  door  beneath  this  staircase,  and  an 
Entrance.  elevator  will  be  found  by  which  the  visitor  may  ascend  to  the  top  of 
the  building ;  but  the  most  interesting  and  proper  approach  is  by 
ascending  the  grand  staircase  to  the  main  entrance. 


•"irryi'^* 


*>f»»»T»r»rTfTrf»ft,},TtlT»jttT»n*H^"-"’ 


r 

'»'  ■*!  •■ 

1 

■'  “ 

E 

i 

ROTUNDA  OF  PUBLIC  READING-ROOM 


IN  THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  HALL.— SECOND  FLOOR. 


50 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


GRAND  STAIRCASE.— Main  Entrance  Hall. 


A  survey  of  the  fa9ade  should  be  made  before  doing  so,  not  only  to  gain  a  general  idea 
of  the  architecture,  but  especially  to  note  the  ethnological  heads  carved  upon 
the  keystones  of  the  thirty-three  arched  windows,  since  these  are  a  novel 
Racial  innovation  upon  the  gorgons,  etc.,  usually  employed  in  such  places. 

Heads.  These  heads  are  studied  and  accurate  types  of  the  principal  races  of  man¬ 

kind,  modeled  by  H.  J.  Ellicott  and  Wm.  Boyd,  under  the  criticism  of 
Prof.  O.  T.  Mason  of  the  National  Museum  ;  they  are  as  important  as  they  are  novel,  and 
are  grouped  according  to  kinship. 

The  first  thing  to  attract  attention,  however,  is  the  fountain,  on  the  street  front  of 
the  staircase,  which  was  designed  by  R.  H.  Perry  and  is  the  most  elaborate  thing  of  its 
kind  in  the  country.  Its  broad  semicircular  basin  contains  a  dozen  bronze 
Perry  figures  grouped  upon  natural  rocks  half  hidden  in  niches  of  the  terrace. 

Fountain.  representing  a  group  of  Tritons  and  creatures  of  the  sea  attendant  upon 

Neptune,  the  presiding  genius  of  the  sea-world.  From  their  mouths 
or  from  the  “wreathed  horns ’’they  are  blowing  spout  jets  of  water.  The  central 
figure  is  a  colossal  image  of  the  kingly  old  sea-god,  and  on  each  side  sea-nymphs  bestrid¬ 
ing  spirited  sea-horses  are  heralding  his  glory.  Sea  serpents,  turtles,  and  other  denizens 
of  the  deep  play  about  his  feet  and  throw  cross-lines  of  water  that  catch  the  sunlight  at 
every  angle. 

Passing  up  the  flights  of  broad  granite  steps,  we  see  that  the  front  of  the  central 
pavilion  consists  of  three  entrance  arches,  surmounted  by  a  portico,  and  against  its  cir¬ 
cular  upper  windows  are  placed  nine  portico  busts  of  great  literati,  as 
Portico.  follows,  beginning  on  the  left :  Demosthenes,  Scott,  Dante  (by  Herbert 
Adams),  Goethe,  Franklin,  IMacaulay  (by  F.  W.  Ruckstuhl),  Emerson, 
Irving,  Hawthorne  (by  J.  Scott  Hartley).  The  balustrades  bear  splendid  bronze  candel* 


THE  LIBKAKY  OF  CONGRESS. 


51 


abra,  modeled  by  Bela  L.  Pratt,  which  illuminate  the  stairway  at  night ;  and  the  same 
sculptor  modeled  the  fine  carvings  over  the  three  entrance  arches,  in  which  Literature, 
Science,  and  Art  (reading,  as  always  in  this  book,  from  left  to  right)  typified  by  pairs  of 
life-size  figures  leaning  against  the  curve  of  the  arches,  and  accompanied  by  appro¬ 
priate  symbols —  a  writing  tablet  and  a  book,  the  torch  of  knowledge  and  a  globe,  and 
the  mallet  of  sculpture  and  palette  and  brush  of  painting,  respectively. 

The  bronze  doors  within  the  entrance  arches  admit  us  to  the  main  BfOnzC 

entrance  hall  of  the  Library,  These  doors  are  worthy  of  study,  and  Doors. 

together  embody  the  development  of  recorded  knowledge  from  prehistoric 
oral  tradition  and  bardic  tales  to  the  modern  preservation  of  history  and  science  by 
printing. 

The  first  door,  at  the  left,  means  Tradition,  and  its  tympanum  was  modeled  by  the 
late  Olin  T.  AVarner,  in  a  manner  suggesting  a  wise  woman  of  prehistoric  times  relating 
the  traditions  of  her  ancestors  to  an  eager  child.  Among  her  auditors  are  an  American 
Indian  (whose  face  is  that  of  Joseph,  chief  of  the  Nez  Perc(is),  a  Norseman,  a  man  of 
the  stone  age,  and  a  shepherd,  representative  of  the  pastoral  races.  Imagination  and 
Memory  are  depicted  in  the  panels  on  the  left  and  right  valves  of  the  door  itself- 

AVith  a  similar  idea  Mr  AVarner  also  figured  a  woman,  over  his  door  at  the  right, 
teaching  children  the  Art  of  Writing,  while  the  four  peoples  of  the  world  —  Egyptian, 
Jew,  Christian,  and  Greek  —  whose  literatures  have  been  most  influential,  are  typified  in 
attentive  figures.  On  the  double  door  are  Research  at  the  left,  and  Truth,  with  sym¬ 
bolic  mirror  and  serpent  at  the  right.  This  door  was  unfinished  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
AV arner’s  death  and  was  completed  by  Adams. 

In  the  tympanum  of  the  central  door,  by  Frederick  Maemonnies,  is  typified  the  Art 
of  Printing.  Minerva,  goddess  of  learning,  is  sending  books  to  the  world  by  her  winged 
messengers;  while  Pegasus,  the  embodiment  of  poetry,  and  the  filial  stork  andemblemsof 
the  printer’s  art  {ars  typograpliica)  are  seen  at  the  left  and  right.  The  female  figures 
upon  the  double  door  stand  for  The  Humanities  and  Intellect. 

These  doors  admit  the  visitor  to  a  corridor  stretching  along  the  west  front  of  the 
pavilion,  forming  a  vestibule.  This  extends  between  piers  of  Italian  marble  support¬ 
ing  arches,  against  which,  on  heavy  brackets,  are  repeated  pairs  of  figures, 
almost  detached  from  the  wail  —  Minerva  in  AVar,  and  Minerva  in  Peace,  Vestibule, 
the  former  bearing  a  sword  and  torch,  the  latter  a  scroll  and  globe.  The 
electric  lamp  standard  between  them  is  a  Greek  altar.  These  figures  were  modeled  by 
Herbert  Adams,  and  are  justly  among  the  most  admired  ornaments  in  the  whole  edifice. 
Like  the  elaborate  ceiling,  and  all  other  ornaments  here,  they  are  modeled  in  stucco, 
which  is  lavishly  touched  with  gold. 

Main  Entrance  Hall. 

Passing  on  through  the  screen  of  arches  one  enters  the  Main  Entrance  Hall.  This  is  a 
vast  square  well,  occupying  the  center  of  the  rectangular  pavilion,  and  containing  the  mag¬ 
nificent  stairways  that  lead  to  the  second  floor  and  to  the  rotunda  gallery. 

Its  floor  is  a  lovely  mosaic  of  colored  marbles,  surrounding  a  brass-  iMain 

rayed  disk  showing  the  points  of  the  compass  ;  and  this  floor,  as  else-  Entrance 

where,  is  made  to  harmonize  in  design  and  tint  with  the  remainder  of  the  Hall, 

decoration.  The  farther  (eastern)  wall  is  broken  by  a  noble  Ionic  door¬ 
way,  forming  a  sort  of  triumphal  arch,  whose  entablature  is  inscribed  with  the 
names  of  the  builders;  it  admits,  by  a  passage  described  elsewhere,  to  the  Public 
Reading-room,  and  the  carved  figures  (by  AVarner)  on  its  arch  personify  Study  —  on 
the  left  a  youth  eager  to  learn,  on  the  right  an  aged  man  contemplating  the  fruits  of 
knowledge. 


52 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Overhead,  the  hall  is  open  to  the  roof,  seventy-two  feet  above,  where  richly  tinted 
skylights  pour  a  flood  of  sunshine  down  upon  the  shimmering  surfaces,  giving 
an  ethereal  lightness  and  beauty  to  the  really  massive  architecture  that  is 
I'lartiny  peculiarly  etfective  and  charming.  Everything  is  white  Italian  marble, 

Sculptures.  and  lavishly  adorned  with  sculpture,  all  the  work  of  Philip  Martiny.  On 
either  side  rise  the  grand  staircases,  circling  about  elaborate  newel-posts 
that  support  bronze  light-bearers  (also  modeled  by  Martiny),  and  sloping  upward  beside 
piers  whose  arches  are  exquisitely  adorned  with  rose  wreaths  and  leafy  branches.  Each 
of  the  solid  balustrades  bears  a  procession  of  nude  figures  of  infants,  or  elves,  connected 
by  garlands,  and  each  representing  by  its  symbols  some  art,  industry,  or  idea.  On  the 
right  (jouth)  from  the  bottom  up,  go  a  Mechanician,  a  Hunter,  Bacchus,  a  Farmer,  a 
Fisherman,  Mars,  a  Chemist,  and  a  Cook  ;  on  the  left,  a  Gardener,  a  Naturalist,  a 
Student,  a  Printer,  a  Musician,  a  Physician,  an  Electrician,  and  an  Astronomer.  Out¬ 
side  of  these,  perched  upon  pilasters  of  the  buttresses  (one  on  each  side),  are  channing 
groups  illustrating  the  continents  and  their  inhabitants  by  globes  showing  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  and  their  peoples.  On  the  right,  or  south  side  of  the  hall,  beside 
the  map  of  Africa  and  America,  sit  two  chubby  boys  —  one  in  the  feather  headdress 
and  other  accouterments  of  an  American  Indian,  and  the  other  showing  the  dress  and 
arms  of  an  African.  Opposite,  beside  their  globe,  are  similar  boys,  personifying  Asia, 
in  Mongolian  robes,  and  Europe,  in  classic  gown  surrounded  by  types  of  civilization 
indicating  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Caucasian  race  in  Architecture,  Literature,  and  Music. 
Figures  of  children  are  also  set  in  relief  upon  the  balustrade  of  the  top  landing  on  each 
side,  those  above  the  south  staircase  signifying  Comedy,  Poetry,  and  Tragedy  ;  and 
those  opposite.  Painting,  Architecture,  and  Sculpture.  All  of  these  little  figures  are 
accompanied  by  symbolic  accessories,  so  that  here,  as  usually  elsewhere  in  this  highly 
thoughtful  scheme  of  decoration,  close  study  is  required  to  gain  the  full  extent  of  the 
artist’s  meaning  —  study  that  will  be  rewarded  by  a  perception  of  artistic  harmony. 

The  ceiling  of  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  is  coved  and  elaborately  ornamented 
Ceiling.  with  carving  and  stucco  work,  among  which  are  placed  tablets  bearing 

the  names  of  illustrious  authors,  and  a  great  number  of  symbols  of  the 
arts  and  sciences. 

First  Floor  Halls  and  Corridors. 

Surrounding  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  runs  a  rectangle  of  corridors  or  halls  forming 
vaulted  and  richly  adorned  passageways  around  the  interior  of  the  first  floor  of  the 
pavilion,  and  admitting  to  various  rooms.  They  are  paneled  in  white 
First  Floor  marble  to  the  height  of  eleven  feet;  their  floors  are  laid  in  harmonious 
HallSo  patterns  of  Italian  white,  Vermont  blue,  and  Tennessee  red-brown 

marbles,  and  their  vaulted  ceilings  are  covered  with  marble  mosaics 
from  cartoons  by  H.  T  Schladermundt,  after  designs  by  E.  P.  Casey.  Hence  these 
halls  are  sometimes  called  the  mosaic  vaults.  Tablets  bearing  the  names  of  literati, 
and  various  trophies,  are  also  pleasingly  introduced  ;  and  at  intervals  upon  the  walls 
semicircular  spaces  or  tympanums  are  utilized  for  some  of  the  most  brilliant  and  inter¬ 
esting  paintings  in  the  building.  It  would  be  well  to  make  the  circuit  of  these  halls 
before  going  elsewhere. 

The  West  Hall  is  the  Entrance  Vestibule  already  described. 

The  South  Hall  lies  at  the  right  of  the  south  staircase,  and  is  beautified  by  paintings 
(in  oil  on  canvas,  glued  to  the  wall  by  a  composition  of  white  lead  —  as  is  the  case  with 
most  of  the  other  mural  paintings  here)  by  H.  O.  Walker,  illustrating  Lyric  Poetry. 

The  principal  one  is  upon  the  large  tympanum  at  the  east  end,  and  represents  Lyric 
Poetry  standing  in  a  wood  striking  a  lyre,  and  surrounded  by  Pathos,  Truth  (nude  of 


THE  LIBRAEY  OF  CONGRESS 


63 


"EUROPE  AND  ASIA." — Detail  of  Grand  Staircase.  Philip  Martin/,  Sculptor, 


54 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


course),  Devotion,  Beauty,  and  playful  Mirth.  In  the  smaller  spaces  Mr.  Walker 
has  painted  “flushed  Ganymede  ....  half  buried  in  the  eagle’s 
VValKCr  down,”  the  Endymion  of  Keats’  poem,  lying  on  Mt.  Patmos,  under 

Paintings.  the  glance  of  his  lover  Diana  (the  moon);  The  Boy,  of  Wordsworth’s  well- 

known  poem;  Emerson,  as  typified  in  his  poem  “Uriel”;  Milton  as 
suggested  by  “Comus,”  particularly  the  lines  — 

Can  any  mortal  mixture  of  earth’s  mold. 

Breathe  such  divine,  enchanting  ravishment? 


The  next  illustrates  the  “Adonis”  of  Shakspere;  and  a  broad  border  of  figures 
portraying  Wordsworth’s  lines: 

The  poets,  who  on  earth  have  made  us  heirs 
Of  truth  and  pure  delight  by  heavenly  lays  1 


The  names  tableted  on 
great  lyric  poets  — 
Whittier,  Bry- 
and  Poe  (Am- 
Browning, 

Byron, 


this  border  are  of  the 
Longfellow,  Lowell, 
ant,  Whitman, 
erican),  and 
Shelley, 
Musset, 


LYRIC  POETRY.— By  H.  0.  Walker. 


Hugo,  Heine,  Theocritus,  Pindar,  Anacreon,  Sappho,  Catullus,  Horace,  Petrarch,  and 
Ronsard. 

At  its  east  end  this  hall  opens  at  right  angles  to  the  south,  where  a  corridor  extends 
along  the  interior  of  the  building,  looking  out  upon  the  southwest  court  to  the 
reading-rooms  reserved  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  and  also  to 
IMcEwen  the  public  reading-room  or  periodical  room.  This  corridor  was  given  to 

Paintings.  Walter  McEwen  to  decorate,  and  he  chose  subjects  from  Greek 

mythology. 

Each  painting  gives  an  incident  characterizing  a  myth,  as  follows,  from  north  to 
south:  1.  Paris,  who  won  Helen  by  giving  the  prize  of  beauty  to  Venus,  silting  at 
her  home  and  conversing  with  her  father,  Menelaus,  King  of  Sparta,  preparatory  to 
taking  Helen  back  with  him  to  Troy. 

2.  Jason  recruiting  his  Argonauts  for  the  voyage  to  recover  the  Golden  Fleece, 
beneath  which  is  inscribed: 

One  equal  temper  of  heroic  hearts  made  weak  by  time  and  fate. 

But  strong  in  will  to  strive,  to  seek,*  to  find,  and  not  to  yield. 

3.  Bellerophon  accepting  from  INIinerva  the  bridle  for  his  winged  horse  Pegasus,  by 
whose  aid  he  is  to  slay  the  Chimiera. 

4.  Orpheus  slain  by  the  Moenads.  or  priestesses  of  Bacchus,  in  one  of  their  orgies, 
because  he  would  not  play  upon  his  marvelous  lyre  hymns  of  praise  to  Bacchus. 

A  glorious  company,  the  fiower  of  men  to  serve  as  model 
For  the  mighty  world,  and  be  the  fair  beginning  of  a  time. 

5.  Perseus  turning  to  stone  Polydetes  and  his  court,  by  means  of  the  head  of  the 
Gorgon  Medusa, 


THE  LIBKARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


55 


6.  Prometheus  warning  his  brother  Epimetheiis  against  accepting  the  mischievous 
Pandora  from  the  gods;  but  the  admonition  was  not  heeded,  Pandora’s  box  was  opened, 
and  all  the  ills  of  the  world  let  loose.  The  inscription  is: 


To  the  souls  of  fire,  I,  Pallas  Athena,  give  more  fire; 

And  to  those  who  are  manful,  a.  might  more  than  man's. 


7.  Theseus,  who  had  killed  the  Minotaur  and  rescued  Ariadne  from  Crete,  is  here 
about  to  desert  her  on  the  island  of  Naxon  at  the  command  of  Minerva. 

8.  Achilles  discovered  by  Ulysses  at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Scyros,  where  he  had 
been  sent  by  his  mother  to  grow  up  among  the  women  in  order  to  keep  him  from  the 
dangers  of  war.  Beneath  it  are  the  lines  from^Byron’s  “Childe  Harold 

Ancient  of  days,  august  Athena,  where  are  thy  men  of  might,  thy  grand 
In  soul?  Gone  —  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were. 


9.  Hercules  in  the  guise  of  a  woman  spinning  for  Omphale,  Queen  of  Lydia. 

The  House  Reading-room,  opening  from  this  corridor,  is  exclusively  for  the  use 
of  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

“No  apartment  in  the  library,”  remarks  Mr.  Herbert  Small,  “is  more  lavishly  and 

sumptuously  orna- 
The  floor 

Represent¬ 
atives’ 
Reading:- 
room. 


MANTEL  IN  HOUSE  READING-ROOM. 
Mosaic  Panel,  “History"  by  Frederick  Dielman. 


mented. 
is  daik 
quar¬ 
tered 
oak; 
the 
wall  s 

have  a  dado  of 
heavy  oak  paneling 
about  eleven  feet 
high  ;  and  the  deep 
window  arches  are 
finished  entirely  in 
the  same  material. 
Above  the  dado  the 
walls  are  hung  with 
olive  greeh  ^Ik. 
The  ceiling  is 
beamed  and  pan¬ 
eled,  and  is  finished 
in  gold  and  colors 
with  painted  dec¬ 
orations  in  the  pan¬ 
els,  and  encrusted 
conventional  orna¬ 
ment  in  cream  white 
along  the  beams. 
Over  the  three  doors 
are  carved  oak  tym¬ 
panums,  by  INIr. 
Charles  H.  Niehaus, 
comprising  two  de¬ 
signs —  the  first  of 
a  central  cartouche 


56 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


bearing  an  owl,  and  supported  on  either  side  by  the  figure  of  a  seated  youth  ;  the 
other,  the  American  Eagle  flanked  by  two  cherubs.  At  either  end  of  the  room  is  a 
magnificent  mantel  of  Siena  marble.  Over  the  fireplace  is  a  large  mosaic  panel  by 
Mr.  Frederick  Dielman,  representing  at  one  end  of  the  room,  Jmw,  and  at  the  other, 
History.  Above  is  a  heavy  cornice  supported  on  beautiful  columns  of  Pavanazzo 
marble,  the  general  color  of  which  is  gray  instead  of  yellow,  but  with  a  system  of  veining 
which  agrees  very  well  with  that  of  the  Siena.  In  the  center  of  the  cornice  is  a  small 

cartouche  of  green 
onyx  in  the  mantel 
to  the  south,  and  of 
labradorite  or  lab¬ 
rador  spar  in  the 
other,  the  latter 
stone  being  re¬ 
markable  for  its  ex¬ 
quisite  gradations 
of  deep  peacock 
blue,  continually 
changing  with  the 
light  and  the  point 
from  which  it  is 
seen.” 

The  mosaics 
above  the  fire¬ 
places,  from  car¬ 
toons  by  Dielman, 
were  made  in  Ven¬ 
ice,  and  are  super¬ 
ior  examples  of  this 
exquisite  and 
peculiar  art  whose 
home  is  in  northern 
Italy.  They  should 
be  contemplated 
thoughtfully.  The 
ceiling  paintings, 
by  Carl  Gutherz, 
filling  seven  panels, 
should  also  be  close¬ 
ly  studied,  begin¬ 
ning  with  the  cen¬ 
tral  one.  The  series  idealizes  the  Spectrum  of  Sunlight.  In  the  center  is  the  first,  yellow 
—  the  Creation  of  Light ;  second,  next  north,  orange  —  the  Light  of  Intelligence  ;  third, 
red  —  the  Light  of  Poetry;  fourth,  violet  —  Light  of  State,  the  United  States  being 
regarded  as  embodying  the  highest  expression  of  government,  and  suitably  represented 
by  the  violet  color,  which  is  formed  by  a  combination  of  red,  white,  and  blue  ;  next  in 
order  (south  of  the  center)  follow  green  —  Research;  blue  —  Truth;  and  indigo  — 
Science.  The  cherubs  in  the  corner  of  each  panel  typify  attributes  of  each  subject. 

The  Senators’  Reading-room,  at  the  end  of  the  corridor,  fills  the  corner  room  of  the 
building,  or  Southwest  Pavilion,  and  is  another  lavishly  decorated  and  furnished  apart¬ 
ment,  as  sumptuous  as,  but  somewhat  less  gaudy  than,  the  reading-room  of  the  House. 


MANTEL  IN  SENATE  READING-ROOM. —  Panel  oy  Herbert  Adams. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


57 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  BOOK.— By  J.  W.  Alexander.  East  Corridor. 


It  is  reserved  for  Senators.  The  walls  are  of  oak,  inlaid  with  arabesques,  Senators’ 

above  which  are  hangings  of  red  figured  silk,  while  the  ornamented  Reading* 

ceiling  is  gold,  relieved  by  deep  red.  A  carved  panel  over  the  door  (by  room. 

Adams),  and  a  series  of  figures  (by  W.  A.  Mackay),  bearing  garlands, 
gracefully  enliven  the  golden  ceiling.  This  room  is  visible  only  as  a  special  privilege. 

The  Periodical  or  Public  Reading-room  occupies  the  great  hall  along  the  south  side 
of  the  building  and  is  entered  from  this  curtain  corridor.  It  is  finished  in  restful  sim¬ 
plicity,  and  contains  a  large  series  of  newspapers  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union  and  from  manj^  foreign  countries,  and  an  unrivaled  series  of  Periodical 

weekly  and  monthly  periodicals.  This  room  and  all  its  periodicals  are  Reading- 

open  to  the  public,  without  any  formality,  and  one  may  choose  what  he  room, 

will  and  sit  and  read  as  long  as  he  likes. 

Returning  to  the  Main  Entrance  Hall,  the  next  part  to  be  examined  is  the  East  Hall,* 
in  the  rear  of  the  staircases,  in  which  are  John  W.  Alexander’s  paintings,  entitled  The 
Evolution  of  the  Book,  a  theme  treated  with  great  intelligence  and  force. 

The  series  begins  at  the  south  end  of  the  nail  with  the  erection  of  the  Alexander 
Cairn  —  the  rudest  means  prehistoric  men  took  to  commemorate  an  event  Paintings, 
or  transmit  the  knowledge  of  something.  The  next  picture  illustrates 
Oral  Tradition —  an  Arab  story-teller  of  the  desert.  The  third  represents  an  Egyptian 
carver  of  hieroglyphics,  at  work  upon  a  tomb,  while  a  young  girl  watches  him.  These 
three  are  the  forerunners  of  the  Book,  the  later  developments  of  which  are  depicted  oppo- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  BOOK. —  By  J.  W.  Alexander.  East  Corridor. 


*  A  ladies’  toilet-room  will  be  found  at  its  southern  end. 


58 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Bite.  Picture-writing,  the  first  step  above  carved  hieroglyphics,  is  illustrated  by  an 
American  Indian  painting  some  tribal  record  upon  a  skin  ;  the  next  advance  is  shown  by 
the  figure  of  a  monk,  silting  by  the  window  of  his  cell,  laboriously  illuminating  some 
sacred  book  in  the  days  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  lastly  the  rise  of  modern  methods 
appears  in  a  scene  in  the  shop  of  Gutenberg,  the  first  printer,  who  stands  examining  a 
proof  sheet,  while  an  assistant  looks  on  and  an  apprentice  works  the  lever  of  a  primitive 
hand  press.  These  are  among  the  most  popularly  interesting  pictures  in  the  libraiy,  and 
are  accompanied  by  the  names  of  Americans  (all  born  in  the  United  States)  distinguished 
in  arts  and  sciences,  the  specialty  of  each  two  denoted  by  trophies.  On  the  pendentives 
of  the  ceiling  are  inscribed  Latrobe  and  Walter  (architecture) ;  Cooke  and  Silliman  (natural 
philosophy) ;  Mason  and  Gottschalk  (music) ;  Stuart  and  Allston  (painting) ;  Powers  and 
Crawford  (sculpture) ;  Bond  and  Rittenhouse  (astronomy) ;  Francis  and  Stevens  (engi¬ 
neering) ;  Emerson  and  - Holmes  (poetry)  ;  Say  and 

Dana  (natural  science) ;  Pierce  and  Bowditch 


three 


learned 


GOOD  ADMINISTrlATION.— By  Elihu  Vedder. 


professions:  Medicine  —  Cross,  AYood,  McDowell,  Rush,  and  Warren;  Theology  — 
Brooks,  Edwards,  Mather,  Channing,  Beecher;  Law  —  Curtis,  M'ebster,  Hamilton, 
Kent,  Pinkney,  Shaw,  Taney,  Marshall,  Story,  and  Gibson.  * 

The  entrance  to  the  reading-room  in  the  Rotunda  leads  from  this  East 
Rotunda  Hall,  through  a  vestibule  (where  also  is  the  elevator),  adorned  in  its 

Entrance.  five  tympanums  with  an  impressive  series  of  allegorical  paintings  by 

Elihu  Vedder,  embodying  the  idea  of  government  in  a  manner  that  has 
aroused  the  highest  admiration  of  all  artists,  and  conveys  food  for  deep  thought. 

The  central  painting  over  the  reading-room  door  is  a  conception  of  republican  Gov¬ 
ernment  in  its  noblest  estate.  That  upon  its  right  exhibits  how  good  administration 
(the  first) loads  to  peace  and  prosperity  (the  second);  contrasted  with  and 
Vedder  opposite  these  are  two  vivid  paintings  portraying  Corrupt  Legislation, 

Painting^S.  resulting  in  Anarchy.  Careful  study  of  these  pictures  will  bring  out  an 

instructive  comprehension  of  how  wide  and  subtle  was  the  artist’s 
thought  in  regard  to  each.  Thus  the  ideal  of  government  is  typified  in  the  figure 
of  a  grave-faced  woman  who  sits  upon  a  stable  throne  beneath  the  shade  of  the  steadfast 
oak  ;  the  bridle  held  by  one  of  the  attendant  youths  signifies  the  restraint  of  law,  the 
books  of  the  other  the  requirement  of  intelligence  in  the  citizen.  Corrupt  Legislation 

*It  should  be  remarked  that  almost  no  names  of  living  men  are  inscribed  up>on  the  walls  of  the 
Ubrary. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


59 


exhibits  a  woman  of  careless  and  corrupt  mien,  sitting  upon  a  throne  whose  arms  are 
cornucopias  of  money.  She  rejects  the  appeal  of  her  poverty-stricken  subjects  for  help, 
and  in  place  of  the  even  balance  of  justice  holds  a  sliding  scale  that  will  easily  lend 
itself  to  bribery  —  indicated  by  the  bag  of  gold  a  rich  man  is  placing  in  its  pan.  The 
voting  urn  is  overturned,  spilling  its  neglected  ballots,  and  wealth  is  piled  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne.  In  the  background  the  factories  of  the  rich  are  active  and  prosperous, 
while  opposite  the  industries  of  the  poor  are  idle.  Anarchy  is  the  result  of  such  govern¬ 
ment,  and  is  represented  raving  with  torch  and  wine  cup  upon  the  ruins  of  the  State 
On  the  other  hand.  Good  Administration  is  a  benign,  yet  powerful  personage,  sitting 
upon  a  seat  whose  solidity  is  typified  by  the  arch  at  its  back,  dispensing  even  justice. 
At  her  right,  a  figure  winnows  grain  above  a  voting  urn,  selecting  carefully  the  wheat 
(good  men)  from  the  cbaff  in  the  filling  of  public  offices  ;  while  at  her  left,  an  educated 
citizenship  confirms  such  choice  by  the  ballot.  The 

beneficent  sequel  to  this, 

perity,  is  dis- 
of  tbe  series, 
agriculture 
der  gov- 
foster- 


Peace  and  Pros- 
played  in  the  last 
where  arts  and 
fiourish  un- 
ernment’s 
i  n  g 


care. 


GOVERNMENT.— By  Elihu  Vedder. 


Passing  on,  now,  to  tbe  North  Hall,  the  marble  stairway  descending  to  the  basement 
and  the  door  of  the  Librarian’s  room  are  first  encountered.  The 
Librarian’s  office  is  a  cozy,  luxuriously  furnished  apartment,  forming  the  Librarian’s 
private  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress;  it  is  finished  in  oak  and  Office, 

exquisitely  decorated  by  Mr.  Holslag  and  Mr.  Weinert,  the  prevailing 
tone  of  color  being  a  delicate  green.  This  room  is  not  open  to  those  who  have  no 
particular  business  with  the  Librarian. 

The  North  Hall  is  opposite  the  south  one,  or  at  the  left  of  the  Pearce 

staircases  as  one  enters  the  front  door,  and  contains  a  series  of  seven  Painting’S, 
wall  paintings,  by  Charles  S.  Pearce,  representing  the  occupations  of  the 
civilized  mind.  The  most  important  fills  the  great  panel  at  the  east  end,  and  depicts 
an  idealization  of  The  Family,  under  such  circumstances  as  the  poets  imagine  exist  in 
Arcadia.  The  father  has  returned  from  hunting,  and  the  mother  holds  out  the  baby  for  his 
greeting,  while  other  children  and  the  aged  parents  cease  their  occupations  to  join 
in  the  welcome.  On  the  south  wall  is  one  picture  only  —  Rest;  while  opposite,  read¬ 
ing  from  left  to  right,  are  four,  entitled :  Religion,  Labor,  Study,  Recreation.  An 
exquisite  border  at  the  end  presents  artistically  an  apothegm  of  Confucius:  “Give 
instruction  unto  those  who  can  not  procure  it  for  themselves.”  The  whole  idea  is 
of  a  quiet,  rational,  uplifted  manner  of  life,  and  the  names  accompanying  these 
scenes  are  those  of  the  great  educators  of  the  world  —  Froebel,  Pestalozzi,  Rousseau, 
Comenius,  Ascham,  Howe,  Gallaudet,  Mann,  Arnold,  and  Spencer. 


60 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  corridor  extending  from  the  east  end  of  this  hall  to  the  Northwest  Pavilion 
is  richly  decorated  by  a  series  of  idealizations  of  the  Muses,  seated  figures  painted  with 
singular  brightness  of  color  and  interest  of  composition,  by  Edward 
Simmons’  Simmons.  Beginning  at  the  south  end,  over  the  entrance  door  is : 
“  I'luses.”  1.  Melpomene,  muse  of  tragedy,  enveloped  in  a  swirl  of  red  drapery. 

2.  (JUo,  muse  of  history,  with  a  helmet  signifying  heroic  deeds.  3. 
Thalia,  muse  of  comedy  and  gay  pleasure,  beside  whom  dances  a  little  satyr  with  Pan’s 
pipes,  and  who  has  Pope’s  lines  : 

Descend,  ye  Nine,  descend  and  sing ; 

Wake  into  voice  each  silent  string. 

4.  Euterpe,  muse  of  lyric  poetry,  the  patroness  of  the  song,  as  suggested  by  the 
flute.  5.  Terpsichore,  muse  of  the  choral  dance,  who  strikes  the  rhythmic  cymbals. 
Beneath  her  is  the  couplet : 

Oh,  Heaven-born  sisters,  source  of  art. 

Who  cliarm  the  sense  or  mend  the  heart. 

6.  Eraio,  muse  of  love  poetry,  is  nude  and  has  a  white  rose,  7.  Polyhymnia,  muse 
of  sacred  song,  holds  an  open  book  ;  and  beneath  is  written  the  third  of  Pope’s  coup¬ 
lets  : 

Say,  will  you  bless  the  bleak  Atlantic  shore. 

And  in  the  West  bid  Athens  rise  once  more  I 

8.  Urania  shows  herself  muse  of  astronomy  by  her  instruments.  9.  Calliope,  muse 
of  epic  poetry  and  eloquence,  is  symbolized  by  a  scroll  and  peacock  feathers. 

The  Northwest  Pavilion,  to  which  this  corridor  leads,  is  finished 
Dodg’C’s  Pom-in  a  prevailing  tone  of  Pompeiian  red,  decorated  in  panels  by  floating 
pciian  Dan-  figures  of  Roman  dancing  girls  drawn  by  R.  L.  Dodge.  Pompeiian  bor- 
cing"  Girls.  ders,  and  a  series  of  signs  of  the  zodiac,  placed  in  the  six  window  bays 
by  Mr.  Thompson,  complete  the  mural  decorations. 

Prom  this  pavilion  one  enters  the  large  hall  on  the  north  side  of  the  building,  corre¬ 
sponding  to  the  Newspaper  and  Periodical  Room,  which  is  devoted  to  the  storage,  con¬ 
sultation,  and  exhibition  of  maps,  charts,  and  geographical  things  generally. 
IMap-room.  The  library  possesses  an  enormous  collection  of  these,  and  is  bringing 
them  together  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  preparing  proper  furniture  and 
cases  for  this  extensive  and  beautiful  room,  so  that  the  maps  and  charts  may  readily  be 
made  use  of  by  students,  and  so  that  the  most  interesting  among  them  may  be  put 
upon  public  exhibition. 

Second  Story  Rooms  and  Corridors. 

Some  of  the  finest  parts  of  the  library  are  in  the  second  story  Ascending  the  stair¬ 
cases  you  find  yourself  in  a  broad  arcade  surrounding  the  hall.  This  is  all  in  white 
marble  of  the  same  Corinthian  style.  Lofty  coupled  columns,  with  elabo. 
Corinthian  rate  acanthus  capitals,  support  joint  entablatures,  whence  spring  the 

Arcades.  groined  arches  of  the  ceiling.  North  and  south  doorways  admit  to 

magnificent  exhibition  halls ;  the  west  windows  open  upon  a  balcony 
overlooking  the  Capitol  grounds  and  a  large  part  of  the  city,  and  on  the  east  a  beauti¬ 
ful  stairway  leads  to  the  uppermost  galleries  of  the  Rotunda. 

A  long  time  may  be  spent  in  admiring  study  of  this  superb  hall,  whose  details  are 
elaborate  in  every  particular,  varying  constantly  in  small  points  of  ornamentation,  yet 
ever  consonant  with  the  classic  model,  and  keeping  an  artistic  uniformity  without 
monotony.  The  ornamentation  of  the  ceilings,  composed  of  stucco  in  high  relief  set  off 
with  gold  on  the  eminences  and  bright  color  in  the  recesses,  is  also  admirable,  and 
becomes  very  striking  when  applied  to  the  vaulted  canopies  of  the  great  side  halls.  The 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


61 


THE  FAMILY. —  By  Charles  Sprague  Pearce. 


decoration  in  relief  here  is  all  the  work  of  Mr.  Martiny,  and  consists  mainly  of  little 
figures  (geniuses),  exemplifying  various  conceptions  and  pursuits  indicated  by  conven¬ 
tional  symbols,  such  as  the  shepherd’s  crook  and  pipes  for  Pastoral  Life  or  Arcady,  a  block 
of  paper  and  a  compass  for  Architecture,  and  so  on  ;  also  many  cartouches  and  tablets 
bearing  the  names  of  illustrious  authors. 

Here  the  spaces  surrounding  the  well  of  the  staircases  are  spoken  of  as  corridors,  of 
which  there  are  four  —  North,  South,  East,  and  West  —  each  decorated  with  brush  or 
chisel  by  some  special  artist  under  a  harmonious  plan.  Certain  features  are  continued 
from  one  to  the  other,  unifying  them.  The  floors  of  all  are  mosaics,  but  the  patterns 
vary.  The  ceilings  are  alike,  barrel  vaults  with  pendentives,  the  ornamentation  of 
wnich  is  similar  yet  varied,  while  to  each  is  assigned  a  special  orna¬ 
mentation  in  paintings.  The  color  scheme  was  suggested  by  that  of  the  Corridors, 
greatly  admired  library  at  Siena,  Italy.  The  colors  employed  are  alike 
in  similar  parts  throughout,  and  a  uniform  arrangement  of  the  minor  decorations, 
trophies,  name-tablets,  spaces  for  mottoes,  etc.,  makes  the  whole  design  coherent,  while 
admitting  of  constant  local  diversity.  The  motive  is  renaissance. 

Each  corner  of  the  rectangle  of  corridors  is  brilliant  with  two  Pompeiian  panels, 
bearing  the  floating  figures  painted  by  George  W.  Maynard  to  express  the 
virtues.  There  are  eight  in  all,  and  it  will  suffice  to  name  and  localize  Pompeiian 

them.  Beginning  at  the  left  in  each  case  they  are:  At  the  northwest  Panels, 

corner  Industry  and  Concord;  at  the  southwest  corner  Temperance  and 
Prudence;  at  the  southeast  corner  Patriotism  and  Courage;  at  the  northeast  corner 
Fortitude  and  Justice. 

Another  of  the  constant  similarities  is  the  series  of  Printers’  Marks,  which  run 
around  the  whole  circle  of  the  scheme,  in  the  penetrations  between  the  pendentives  of 
the  ceiling.  They  are  the  “engraved  devices  which  the  old  printers 
used  in  the  title-page  or  colophon  of  their  books,  partly  as  a  kind  of  Printers’ 

informal  trade-mark  guarding  against  counterfeited  editions,  and  partly  Marks, 

as  a  personal  emblem.”  Similar  marks  have  been  adopted  by  many 
modern  publishers,  and  these  are  represented  as  well  as  the  old  ones.  It  would  require 
a  long  time  to  describe  each  one  of  the  fifty-six  here  shown,  but  they  are  worth  careful 
examination,  and  some  are  artistic  and  beautiful,  while  others  are  highly  fanciful  or 
whimsical,  containing  a  pun  on  the  printer’s  name,  or  an  indication  of  some  legend. 
These  marks  are  drawn  in  black,  and  are  enclosed  in  varying  ornamental  devices. 

The  North  Corridor  contains  the  brilliant  paintings  of  Robert  Reid  on  the  north  wall 
and  in  the  vault.  For  the  former  purpose  he  was  given  four  circular  panels,  which  he  has 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


G2 

filled  with  compositions  entitled  Wisdom,  Understanding,  Knowledge,  and  Philosf>phy,  are 
also  by  Mr.  Reid,  and  the  subjects  are  typified  by  women  of  rather  more 
Reid  serious  mien,  who  are  distinguished  by  easily  understood  symbols,  the 

Painting^S.  Greek  temple  in  the  background  of  the  last  picture  reminding  the  ob¬ 

server  that  philosophy  began  among  the  Greeks, 

The  same  artist  has  taken  the  Five  Senses  as  his  theme  for  the  ceiling  pictures, 
occupying  octagonal  spaces  in  the  arabesque  design  of  the  vault.  Taste,  Sight,  Smell, 
Hearing,  and  Touch  are  represented  in  order  from  west  to  east,  by  delightfully  composed 
figures  of  young  women  that  seem  to  be  supported  upon  cloud  banks  in  the  sky.  Taste 
is  surrounded  by  the  foliage  and  fruit  of  the  grape  and  is  drinking  from  a  shell.  Sight 
smiles  at  her  image  in  a  hand  mirror  (as  well  she  may)  and  beside  her  is  a  gorgeous  pea¬ 
cock.  Smell  is  ensconced  in  flowers  and  inhales  the  perfume  of  a  rose.  Hearing  prettily 
listens  to  the  roaring  of  a  seashell  held  to  her  ear  by  graceful  hands.  Touch,  beside 
whom  sleeps  a  setter  dog,  is  holding  herself  quiet  and  feeling  the  tltillation  made  by  the 
butterfly  that  walks  along  her  bare  arm. 

But  these  are  only  the  centerpieces  of  this  highly  embellished  ceiling.  Small  rec¬ 
tangles  are  filled  with  sketchy  drawings  illustrating  in  a  classic  style  the  games  and  rec¬ 
reations  of  ancient  times  —  Throwing  the  Discus,  Wrestling,  Running, 
Ancient  The  Finish,  The  Wreath  of  Victory,  and  The  Triumphal  Return — in 

Games.  order.  In  addition  to  these  are  the  Printers’  Marks,  here  of  American 

and  British  publishers,  and  a  long  series  of  trophies  of  science  and 
industry  contained  in  medallions.  Geometry  is  marked  by  a  scroll,  compass,  etc. ;  Meteor¬ 
ology,  by  the  barometer,  thermometer,  etc. ;  Forestry,  by  axe  and  pruning  knife  ; 

Navigation,  by  sailors’  implements  ;  Transportation,  by  propeller,  piston, 
Trophies.  headlight,  etc.  Above  the  west  window  are  the  two  faces  of  the  Great 
Seal  of  the  United  States,  and  two  of  R.  H.  Perry’s  Sybils,  sculptured  in 
low  relief,  these  two  being  Greek  and  Oriental.  The  former  (the  Delphic  Oracle)  dic¬ 
tates  her  prophecies  to  an  aged  scribe  ;  the  latter  (a  veiled  or  occult  per- 
Perry’s  son)  utters  them  to  prostrate  adorers. 

Sybils.  Mr.  Maynard’s  Pompeiian  panels  contain,  at  the  east  end,  Fortitude  and 

Justice  ;  at  the  west  end.  Industry  and  Concord. 


COURAGE.  FORTITUDE.  JUSTICE.  PATRIOTISM. 

Pompeiian  Panels,  by  G.  W,  Maynard. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


63 


Jklany  inscriptions  are  written.  Those  in  panels  over  doors  and  windows  are  : 

The  chief  glory  of  every  people  arises  from  its  authors. — Dr.  Johnson. 

There  is  one  only  good,  namely,  knowledge,  and  one  only  evil,  namely,  ignoi’ance. —<Socrafes. 

Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers.—  Tennyson. 

vVisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore  get  wisdom;  and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding. 

Proverbs  iv:  7. 

Ignorance  is  the  curse  of  God, 

Knowledge  the  wing  wherewith  we  fly  to  Heaven.  — S/iafespere  —  2  Henry  VI. 

How  charming  is  Divine  Philosophy. — Milton. 

Books  must  follow  sciences  and  not  sciences  books. — Bacon. 

In  books  lies  the  soul  of  the  whole  past  time.— Carlyle. 

Words  are  also  actions  and  actions  are  a  kind  of  words. — Emerson. 

Reading  maketh  a  full  man,  conference  a  ready  man,  and  writing  an  exact  man.— Bacon. 

The  ceiling  inscriptions  are  from  Adelaide  Proctor’s  “  Unexpressed”  : 


Dwells  within  the  soul  of  every  Artist 
More  than  all  his  effort  can  express. 

No  great  thinker  ever  lived  and  taught  you 
All  the  wonder  that  his  soul  received. 

No  true  painter  ever  set  on  canvas 
All  the  glorious  vision  he  conceived. 

No  musician, 

But  be  sure  he  heard,  and  strove  to  render, 
Feeble  echoes  of  celestial  strains. 


No  real  Poet  ever  wove  in  numbers 
All  his  dreams. 

Love  and  Life  united 

Are  twin  mysteries,  different,  yet  the  same. 

Love  may  strive,  but  vain  is  the  endeavor 
All  its  boundless  riches  to  unfold. 

Art  and  Love  speak;  but  their  words  must  be 
Like  sighings  of  illimitable  forests. 


In  the  border  of  the  arch  over  the  west  window  : 

Order  is  Heaven’s  first  law. 

Memory  is  the  treasurer  and  guardian  of  all  things. 

Beauty  is  the  creator  of  the  universe. 

Opening  from  this  north  corridor  is  the  great  exhibition  hall,  occupying  the  whole 
breadth  of  this  part  of  the  building  and  looking  out  toward  the  Capitol  on  one  side 
and  into  one  of  the  courts  (with  a  good  view  of  the  north  book-stack)  on  the  other. 
The  ceiling  is  an  elliptical  barrel  vault,  twenty-nine  feet  above  the  floor,  divided  by 
double  ribs  springing  from  pilasters,  and  set,  as  elsewhere,  with  square  coffers  of 
stucco  colored  red  and  gold.  Red,  indeed,  is  the  prevailing  color  here,  emphasizing 
the  arabesques  on  the  walls  and  adapting  itself  to  the  theme  of  decoration,  as  does  the 
blue  of  the  corresponding  exhibition  hall  on  the  south. 

The  special  decorations  consist  of  two  great  wall  paintings  filling  the  arched  ends  of 
the  hall  above  the  doors,  where  spaces  34  feet  long  by  9>^  feet  high  form  the  fields  for 
single  compositions  by  Gari  Melchers  —  War  and  Peace.  War,  at  the 
north  end  of  the  gallery,  confronts  the  spectator  as  he  enters.  A  triumph-  IMcIchcrs* 
ant,  laurel-crowned  chief  of  fighting  men  of  some  primitive  time  and  “  War  and 
place  is  leading  home  his  victorious  band,  the  “  dogs  uf  war  ”  straining  PcaCC.” 
at  the  leash  in  advance.  A  herald  blows  a  paean  of  victorv.  but  the 
horsemen  ride  over  bodies  of  the  slain,  weak  men  fall  by  tne  wayside,  and  in  the  very 
foreground  of  the  scene  their  own  losses  are  suggested  in  the  dead  captain  borne  home¬ 
ward,  Thus  the  dread  as  well  as  the  glory  of  war  is  depicted. 

Peace  is  the  subjec.of  the  painting  at  the  opposite  (south)  end,  and  it  is  equally  bold  in 
conception,  drawing,  and  color.  The  time  and  scene,  as  before,  are  carried  back  to  that 
prehistoric  state  of  society  which  is  regarded  by  the  poets  as  Arcadian  in  its  simplicity 
and  virtue  With  no  fear  of  hostile  interruption  or  anxiety  of  mind,  the  inhabitants  of 
a  village  have  come  in  religious  procession  to  a  grove  wherein  resides  their  tutelary  deity, 
whose  image  they  are  reverently  bearing;  and  while  the  priest  chants  a  litany  they  bring 
forward  the  supplicatory  gifts  or  the  thank-offerings  each  means  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
goddess.  The  fattened  ox  may  be  meant  for  a  sacrifice,  but  it  is  also  a  suggestion  of 
rural  prosperity  and  feasting. 


64 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  names  inscribed  here  are  those  of  the  world’s  most  famous  soldiers; 
IVellington,  Washington,  Charles  Martel,  Cyrus,  Alexander,  Hanni¬ 
bal,  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  Napoleon,  Jackson,  Sheridan,  Grant, 

Sherman,  William  the  Con(iueror,  Frederick  the  Great,  Eugene, 
Marlborough,  Nelson,  Scott,  Farragut. 

This  hall  is  devoted  to  an  exhibition,  in  glass  table-cases, 
of  a  great  number  of  rare  and  curious  books  representing 
the  beginnings  of  printing  and  bookmaking,  especially 
as  relates  to  North  American  discovery  and  history. 

The  display  of  early  printed  Bibles  and  missals,  and 
specimens  of  famous  special  editions  of  Bibles,  is 
also  large.  A  great  number  of  these 
Early  Books,  prints  go  back  to  the  fifteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  and  some  of  them  are  of 
great  value  on  account  of  their  extreme  rarity. 

All  are  laid  open,  usually  at  the  title-page,  and 
can  be  examined  as  closely  as  is  possible  with¬ 
out  taking  them  in  one’s  hand.  This  collection 
is  added  to  and  changed  from  time  to  time  as 
new  books  of  curious  interest  are  acquired. 

The  northern  door  of  this  hall 
Northwest  opens  into  the  Northwest 

Pavilion.  Pavilion,  occupying  the 

northwestern  corner  of  the 
library.  This  room  is  among  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  in  the  building.  The  ceiling  is  richly 
coffered, colored,  and  gilded  around  a  central 
dome  occupied  by  a  painting.  The  walls 
are  broken  by  pillars,  and  are  ornamented 
with  stucco  work,  including  a  series  of  four 
carvings,  one  in  each  of  the 
Pratt’s  pendentives,  which  delicately 

“  Seasons.”  represent  the  Seasons,  and  are 

from  models  by  B.  L.  Pratt. 

These  are  repeated  in  the  three  other  corner 
pavilions,  as  are  the  general  features  of  decora¬ 
tion,  while  the  frescoes  are  individualized. 

The  special  artist  whose  work  is  seen  in  this 
pavilion  is  William  de  L.  Dodge,  who  has  made 
Ambition  the  subject  of  his  painting  in  the  dome, 
and  has  filled  the  four  tympanums  of  the  walls  with 
allegorical  scenes,  remarkable  for  the  number  of 
figures  they  include.  The  dome  picture  represents 
the  summit  of  a  mountain  which  may  be  called  Success, 
to  which  have  climbed  a  series  of  persons  along  the 
various  paths,  noble  and  ignoble,  of  human 
W.  de  L.  Dodg^e  endeavor.  The  Unattainable  Ideal  leaps 
Painting^S.  away  into  the  air  beyond  their  reach,  never¬ 
theless,  though  trumpeting  Fame  clutches  at  the 
bridle.  The  struggling  crowd  displays  types  of  many  forms  of  Ambi¬ 
tion,  and  a  Jester  stands  one  side  and  laughs  at  the  useless  strife.  Mr 


WAR. —  By  Gari  Melchers, 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


65 


Dodge’s  wall  paintings  depict  Music  (north),  Science  (east),  Art  (south),  and  Literature 
(west).  Each  includes  a  group  of  figures  about  the  presiding  genius  of  their  art,  and 
illustrating  clearly  by  their  attitudes,  occupations,  or  implements  its  characteristics 
and  development.  Thus  in  Music  musicians,  ancient  and  modern,  are  playing  before 
Apollo,  the  god  of  song  and  harmony.  Science,  an  ideal  winged  figure  before  a 
temple,  has  summoned  the  representatives  of  Invention,  and  the  scene  is  filled  with 
suggestions  of  scientific  discovery  —  Franklin’s  kite  that  began  modern  progress  in 
electricity,  a  teakettle  as  a  reminder  of  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  the  steam  engine,  etc. 
Art  displays  the  painter,  the  sculptor,  and  the  architect  at  work.  In  Literature  a 
graceful  group  illustrates  education,  the  book,  the  drama,  poetry,  the  fame  that  crowns 
the  successful  author,  and  so  forth. 

Several  large  table-cases  are  placed  in  this  room,  containing  manuscripts,  autographs, 
and  curious  prints  relating  to  the  political  history  of  the  United  States  in  great  variety 
Many  of  these  are  proclamations,  officers’  commissions,  and  similar  papers 
signed  by  Colonial  Governors  and  early  Presidents  and  statesmen.  There  Historic 

are  also  many  letters,  diaries,  account  books,  etc.,  of  statesmen  and  Autographs 
leaders  in  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  more  recent  wars,  and  IHSS. 
including  that  with  Spain,  which  resulted  in  the  freeing  of  the  West 
Indies.  Perhaps  the  most  curious  relic  is  a  manuscript  volume  of  the  drawings  of  the 
United  States  lottery  of  1779. 

The  hall  along  the  north  side  of  the  building,  opening  out  of  this  pavilion,  occupied 
by  special  collections,  must  be  passed  through  in  order  to  see  the  Northeast  Pavilion. 

This  pavilion,  sometimes  called  the  “Pavilion  of  the  Seals,”  occupies  the  octagonal 
northeast  corner  of  the  building.  Gilding  prevails  upon  its  walls  and  ceiling,  and  sets 
off  the  illustrative  paintings  of  W.  B.  Van  lugen  personifying  the 
Executive  Departments.  The  Treasury  and  State  departments  are  typi-  Northeast 

fied  in  the  west  tympanum  ;  the  War  and  Nary  in  the  south;  Agriculture  Pavilion. 

Interior  in  the  east;  Justice  and  the  Post  in  the  north. 

All  of  the  details  are  symbolic  and  easily  understood,  except  the  cypress  trees,  which 

are  merely  decorative,  and  stand  in  jars  copied  from  those  made  by  the  Zuni  Indians. 

The  seals  of  the  departments  are  cleverly  introduced,  and  in  the  dome 

the  great  seal  of  the  United  States  forms  the  center  of  an  elaborate  and  Van  Ingcn’s 

beautiful  circular  painting  by  Garnsey,  framed  in  an  inscription  from  “  Seals.” 

Lincoln’s  Gettysburg  address:  “That  this  nation,  under  God,  shall 

have  a  new  birth  of  freedom  ;  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for 

the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.”  Other  sentiments  inscribed  here  are  : 


’Tis  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliance  with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world. 

—  Washington. 

Let  our  object  be  our  country,  our  whole  country,  and  nothing  but  our  country. — Webster. 

Thank  God,  I  also  am  an  American. — Webster. 


Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever  state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political  —  peace, 
commerce,  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations  —  entangling  alliance  with  none. — Jefferson. 


The  agricultural  interest  of  the  country  is  connected  with  every  other,  and  supe¬ 
rior  in  importance  to  them  all. — Jackson. 

Let  us  have  'peace.— Grant. 


Inscriptions. 


The  aggregate  happiness  of  society  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  end  of  all  government.— TEos/itnpfon. 
To  be  prepared  for  war  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  preserving  peace.— Washington. 


The  visitor  may  now  return  to  the  Main  Entrance  Hall  and  devote  attention  next  to 
the  West  Corridor.  This  is  immediately  over  the  Entrance  Vestibule,  and  has  been  dec¬ 
orated  in  a  very  interesting  manner  by  Walter  Shirlaw,  who  has  found  his  motive  in 
The  Sciences.  Says  Mr.  Small : 


6 


66 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


“  Each  science  is  represented  by  a  female  figure  about  feet  in  height.  The  figures 
are  especially  interesting,  aside  from  their  artistic  merit,  for  the  variety  of  symbolism 
by  which  every  science  is  distinguished  from  the  others,  and  for  the 
Shirlaw  subtlety  with  which  much  of  this  symbolism  is  expressed.  Not  only  is 

Painting^S.  each  accompanied  by  various  appropriate  objects,  but  the  lines  of  the 

drapery,  the  expression  of  the  face  and  body,  and  the  color  itself,  are, 
wherever  practicable,  made  to  subserve  the  idea  of  the  science  represented.  Thus  the 
predominant  colors  used  in  the  figure  of  Chemistry — purple,  blue,  and  red  —  are  the 
ones  which  occur  most  often  in  chemical  experimenting.  ...  In  the  matter  of 
line,  again,  the  visitor  will  notice  a  very  marked  difference  between  the  abrupt,  broken 
line  used  in  the  drapery  of  Archaeology,  and  the  moving,  flowing  line  in  that  of 
Physics.” 

The  list  of  these  paintings,  beginning  on  the  west  at  the  left,  is  as  follows  :  Zoology, 
clad  in  a  pelt,  and  with  the  lion  of  the  desert  beside  her ;  Physics,  typifying  and 
expressing  in  color  and  flowing  form  the  reign  of  fire  and  electricity;  Mathematics  is 
almost  nude — the  exact  truth;  Geology  has  gathered  specimens  and  fossils  from  the 
rocks.  On  the  east  :  Arclmology,  in  Roman  costume,  consults  history,  and  has  beside 
her  a  vase  made  by  Zuni  Indians;  Botany  seems  analyzing  a  water  lily;  Astronomy 
suggests  her  study  by  globe  and  planet  and  the  lens  of  a  telescope,  and  Chemisti'y  is 
accompanied  by  symbols  of  her  investigations. 

Agreeably  to  this  motive,  the  names  of  distinguished  men  of  science  are  emblazoned 
upon  the  wall :  Cuvier  the  zoologist,  Rumford  the  physicist.  La  Grange  the  mathema¬ 
tician,  Lyell  the  geologist,  Schliemann  the  Greek  archaeologist,  Linnaeus  the  father  of 
botany,  Copernicus  the  astronomer,  and  Lavoisier  the  chemist. 

Three  medallions  in  the  ceiling  are  filled  by  W.  B.  Van  Ingen  with  sketchy  draw¬ 
ings  idealizing  the  Arts  :  Sculpture  chisels  at  a  bust  of  Washington  ;  Painting  is 
employed  at  her  easel  ;  and  Architecture  is  busied  at  the  plans  of  a  building. 

The  Printers’  Marks  here  are  German. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  ceiling  and  over  the  windows  are  these  • 

The  first  creature  of  God  was  the  Ught  of  sense  ;  the  last  was  the  light  of  reason. 

The  light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not. 

All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole. 

Whose  body  nature  is  and  God  the  soul. 

In  nature  all  is  useful,  all  is  beautiful. 

Art  is  long,  and  Time  is  Meeting.— Longfellow. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  the  biography  of  great  men.— Carlyle. 

Books  will  speak  plain  when  counsellors  blanch. — Bacon. 

Glory  is  acquired  by  virtue  but  preserved  by  letters. — Petrarch. 

The  foundation  of  every  state  is  the  education  of  its  youth. — Dionysius. 

The  South  Corridor,  at  the  right  of  the  staircase,  is  especially  characterized  by  Ben¬ 
son’s  bright  and  dainty  paintings.  The  Four  Seasons  occupy  circular  panels  upon  the 
wall,  and  excite  universal  admiration.  “Each  is  represented,”  says  a 
Benson  critic,  “by  a  beautiful  half-length  figure  of  a  young  woman,  with  no 

PaintingfS.  attempt,  however,  at  any  elaborate  symbolism  to  distinguish  the  season 

which  she  typifies.  Such  distinction  as  the  painter  has  chosen  to  indi¬ 
cate  is  to  be  sought  rather  in  the  character  of  the  faces,  or  in  the  warmer  or  colder  col¬ 
oring  of  the  whole  panel —  in  a  word,  in  the  general  artistic  treatment.” 

Mr.  Benson  has  also  found  space  among  the  rich  arabesques  of  the  ceiling  ornament 


THE  LIIUIAKY  OF  CONGRESS. 


67 


for  three  hexagonal  paintings,  given  to  the  Graces,  in  which  the  use  of  white  is  mos) 

skillfully  and  pleasingly  made  prominent.  Aglaia  is  here  regarded  as 

the  goddess  or  patroness  of  husbandry  and  pastoral  life,  and  characterized  ThC 

by  the  shepherd’s  crook  ;  Thalia  stands,  of  course,  for  art,  and  by  her  Graces. 

side  is  seen  a  lyre,  suggesting  music,  and  a  Greek  temple  as  a  symbol  of 

architecture;  while  Ewplironyae  is  the  grace  of  graces  —  Beauty  —  and  holds  a  mirror 

up  to  her  own  features. 

Near  each  end  of  the  vault  rectangular  Modem 

panels  representing  a  “scrim-  mage”  at  foot-  Games, 

ball,  and  a  baseball  game  —  modern 

games  as  compared  with  the  ancient  recreation? 

depicted  in  the  North  '  Corridor.  Mr.  Perry’s 

bas-reliefs  are  contin-  cf  west  end 

here,  in  two  subjects  ^  also  expressing  ancient 

prophecy.  One  is  the  Jh||  Cumsean  or  Roman 

sibyl  —  a  fearsome  old  \  woman  who  reads  from 

a  sibylline  scroll  an  an-  ^  ‘  swer  to  the  questions 

general  and  a  nude  woman.^pP^^^k  ^  ^^j^^F^The  other.  Perry’s 

in  similar  pose,  represents  a  “wise  woman”  Sibyls, 

or  vala  of  the  Norsemen.  Maynard’s  Pom¬ 
peiian  panels  in  this  corridor  show  the  Virtues,  Patriotism 

and  Courage  at  the  east  end,  aglaia.  west  end  Temperance 

and  Prudence. 

The  Printers’  Marks  are  French  ;  and  a  series  of  trophy  medallions  corresponds  to 
that  of  the  North  Corridor,  showing  the  crafts  of  the  Potter,  Glassmaker,  Carpenter, 
Blacksmith,  and  Mason.  The  inscriptions  here  read  ; 

Beholding  the  bright  countenance  of  Truth  in  the  quiet  and  still  air  of  delightful  studies. 

The  true  University  of  these  days  is  a  Collection  of  Books.  —  Carlyle. 

Nature  is  the  art  of  God.  —  Sir  Thomas  Browne. 

There  is  no  work  of  genius  which  has  not  been  the  delight  of  mankind. — Loivell. 

It  is  the  mind  that  makes  the  man,  and  our  vigor  is  in  our  immortal  soul.  —  Ovid. 

They  are  never  alone  that  are  accompanied  with  noble  thoughts.  —  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
Man  is  one  world,  and  hath  another  to  attend  him.  —  Herbert. 

Tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 

Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything.  —  «S'/iafcspe?’e  —  As  You  Like  It. 

The  true  Shekinah  is  man.  —  Chrysostom. 

Only  the  actions  of  the  just 

Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust.  —  James  Shirley. 

Man  raises  but  time  weighs. 

Beneath  the  rule  of  men  entirely  great 

The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword. 

The  noblest  motive  is  the  public  good. 

A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing  ; 

Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring.  —  Pope. 

Learning  is  but  an  adjunct  to  ourself.  —  Love’s  Labor  Lost. 

Studies  perfect  nature,  and  are  perfected  by  experience.  —  Bacon. 

•  -  Dreams,  books,  are  each  a  world  ;  books,  we  know. 

Are  a  substantial  world,  both  pure  and  good. — Wordsworth 


68 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


TLe  fault  is  not  in  our  stars, 

But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings.  —  Shdkspere  —  Julius  Caesar. 

The  universal  cause 

Acts  to  one  end,  but  acts  by  various  laws.  —  Pope. 
Creation's  heir,  the  w'orld,  the  world  is  mine!  —  Goldsmith. 


Vain,  very  vain,  the  weary  search  to  find 
That  bliss  which  only  centers  in  the  mind.  —  Goldsmith. 

Wide  doors  admit  from  this  South  Corridor  into 
the  exhibition  hall  corresponding  to  that  on  the 
north  in  its  shape  and  plan  of  decoration,  except 
that  the  prevailing  tone  here  is  blue.  The  two 
great  mural  paintings  are  the  work  of  Ken3mn 
Cox,  who  has  taken  as  his  subject  for  the  south 
end  the  Sciences  and  for  the  north  end  the  Arts. 

The  composition  and  grouping  of  the  two  are 
somewhat  alike  —  the  central  figure  in  both 
being  seated  upon  a  kind  of  throne,  supported 
by  a  classic  balustrade  extending  each  way  to 
the  limits  of  the  canvas,  along  which  the  sub¬ 
ordinate  figures  are  displaj’-ed. 

Cox’s  In  The  Sciences,  which  faces 

“  Arts  and  the  entrance,  the  central  figure  ^  ■% 

Sciences.”  is  Astronomy,  with  Physics 

and  Mathematics,  distinguished 
by  conventional  symbols,  at  her  right ;  be-  ; 
yond  them  geometrical  figures  seem  merely 
symbolic  accessories  until  close  attention 
shows  that  they  spell  the  artist’s  name  — 

Kenyon  Cox.  At  the  right  of  the  panel 
Botany  and  Zoology  approach,  and  behind 
them  are  seen  shells,  minerals,  etc.  In  The 
Arts,  at  the  north  end  of  the  room.  Poetry  sits 
enthroned  in  the  center,  in  an  attitude  of  exalta¬ 
tion,  which  is  communicated  to  two  little  gen¬ 
iuses  at  her  feet.  At  her  right  are  a  musician 
and  an  architect,  while  at  her  left  sit  Sculpture 
and  Painting —  all  typified  by  women,  graceful 
and  dignified  in  mien,  lovely  in  face.  The  coloring 
of  these  paintings  is  particularly  rich  and  harmon¬ 
ious  with  the  prevalent  blue  and  gold  of  the  room. 

This  room  is  devoted  to  an  extensive  series  of 
prints  illustrating  the  processes  and  development  of  the 
graphic  arts  —  etching,  photography,  and  printing  of 
photogravures  and  half-tones ;  and  the  names  written  upon 
the  wall  tablets  are  those  of  men  distinguished  in  science  and 
art — Leibnitz,  Galileo,  Aristotle,  Ptolemy,  Dalton,  Hipparchus, 

Herschel,  Kepler,  Lamarck,  and  Helmholz  for  the  former  ;  and 
Wagner,  Mozart,  Homer,  Milton,  Raphael,  Rubens,  Vitruvius,  Man¬ 
sard,  Phidias,  and  Michaelangelo  for  art. 

South  of  this  hall  a  great  door  opens  into  the  Southwest  Pavilion,  which 


THE  SCIENCES.  —  By  Kenyon  Cox 


THE  LIBEARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


69 


has  been  styled  “Pavilion  of  the  Discoverers, ’’from  the  theme  of  its  decorations.  Like 
the  other  corner  rooms  it  is  octagonal  and  its  ceiling  has  a  dome,  the  disk 
of  which  is  decorated  by  George  W.  Maynard  with  an  allegorical  design  Southwest 

embracing  four  stalwart  female  figures  typifying  National  Virtues  PaviliOfl. 

—  Courage,  roughly  mail-clad  and  armed  with  shield  and  war-club  ; 

Valor,  a  warrior  of  more  refined  type,  with  a  sword  ;  Fortitude,  an  unarmed  figure 
bearing  an  architectural  column  as  a  symbol  of  stability  ;  and  Achievement,  wearing 
the  laurel  crown. 

Each  of  these  figures  is  related  in  thought  to  one  of  the  four  great  tympanum  paint¬ 
ings,  also  by  Maynard,  in  which  are  idealized  the  succession  of  Adventure,  Discovery, 
Conquest,  and  at  last  Civilization.  The  series  begins  at  the  east  side  with 
Adventure,  and  each  consists  of  three  splendid  female  figures  whose  Maynard 

action  and  accompaniments  express  the  artist’s  conceptions.  It  will  be  Paintings, 

noticed,  too,  that  it  is  not  adventure  and  conquest  in  general  which  is 
portrayed,  but  that  which  led  to  the  discovery  and  civilization  of  America,  and  conse¬ 
quently  all  the  accessories  are  English  and  Spanish,  and  the  many  names  recorded  are 
those  of  the  adventurers,  navigators,  soldiers,  priests,  missionaries,  and  statesmen  who 
successively  figured  in  the  development  of  North  America  from  Spanish  and  BritisI 
colonies  to  the  independence  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 

In  addition  to  this  very  fine  series  of  paintings,  the  pendentives  here  (as  in  the  othei 

« 

pavilions)  bear  a  notable  series  of  circular  plaques  in  low  relief,  expressing  by  seated, 
nearly  nude,  female  figures,  the  Four  Seasons,  modeled  by  Bela  L.  Pratt. 

Spring  sows  seed,  her  garment  blown  by  the  vernal  winds  ;  Summer,  PlaQUCS. 
older,  sits  quiet  among  the  poppies ;  Autumn,  now  mature,  nurses  a 
child ;  and  Winter  gathers  fagots  to  warm  her  aged  body.  The  garlands  over  each  cor¬ 
respond  to  the  season.  The  orderly  manner  in  which  the  decorations  of  this  and  the 
other  pavilions,  both  painted  and  sculptured,  have  been  made  to  correspond  with  one 
another  and  with  the  architectural  requirements  of  the  room,  and  to  carry  out  and 
enforce  by  every  detail  the  central  idea  belonging  to  each,  makes  them  among  the 
most  remarkable  examples  of  decoration  in  the  world,  and  merits  care¬ 
ful  study.  This  pavilion  is  devoted  to  exhibition  cases  for  the  display  Book 

of  the  growth  and  development  of  book  illustration  from  the  first  rude  Illustration, 
efforts  in  illumination  and  in  wood-cutting  to  the  finest  modern  examples. 

The  eastern  door  of  this  pavilion  opens  into  the  Exhibition  Hall  along  the  south 
side  of  the  building,  which  is  quietly  decorated  in  plain  tints,  and  devoted  to  an 
extensive  exhibit  of  the  art  of  making  pictures  mechanically.  It  is  known,  therefore, 
as  the  Print  Room.  Here  one  may  see  a  great  series  of  prints,  illustrating  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  lithography  and  the  processes  a  lithograph  goes  through,  whether  printed 
in  monotint  or  in  varied  colors.  Also  early  and  fine  modern  examples  of  every  sort  of 
engraving  upon  wood,  copper,  and  steel.  In  addition  to  this  the  library  aims  to  show 
an  example  of  the  work  of  every  prominent  American  etcher  and  engraver.  This  hall 
is  illuminated  by  skylights. 

The  Southeast  Pavilion,  called  “Pavilion  of  the  Elements,”  is  at  the  Southeast 

eastern  extremity  of  this  room  and  is  decorated  by  R.  L.  Dodge.  In  Pavilion, 

each  of  the  four  tympanums  he  has  painted  a  representation  of  one  of 
the  four  Elements  —  to  the  east.  Earth;  to  the  north.  Air;  to  the  west.  Fire;  to  the 
south,  Water.  Each  consists  of  three  figures,  and  the  allegory  and  „  .  , 

symbolism  in  each  case  are  readily  interpreted  by  the  beholder.  In  the 
dome  Mr.  Dodge,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Garnsey,  has  expressed  the  t-icnicnis. 

same  idea  in  another  way,  figured  by  Apollo  and  the  Sun  for  a  centerpiece,  surrounded 
by  medallions  and  cartouches  for  the  elements. 


70 


1*ICT0K1AL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  series  of  liandsome  but  not  especially  notable  apartments  alon^  the  eastern 
front  of  the  building  are  at  present  occupied  on  the  south  by  Music  and  on  the  north 
by  the  Smithsonian  collections. 

Mlain  Returning  to  the  Hall,  the  East  Corridor  and  Entrance  to  the  Rotunda 

Entrance.  Galleries  remain  to  be  considered. 

The  East  Corridor,  crossing  the  head  of  the  staircases,  has  penden- 
tive  figures  by  Geo.  R.  Barse,  Jr.,  illustrating  the  topic  Literature,  and  com¬ 
prising  Lyrica  (Lyric  poetry),  Tragedy,  Comedy,  and  History,  on 
Barse  the  east  wall  ;  and  Love,  Erotica  (poetry'.  Tradition,  Fancy,  and 

Painting’S.  Romance,  on  the  west  wall.  They  are  simply  expressed  in  the  forms 

of  attractive  women,  each  having  the  well-known  conventional 
symbols.  The  center  of  the  var't  exhibits  three  more  striking  medallion  paintings 
by  Wm.  A.  Mackay,  giving  fLe  three  stages  of  the  Life 

of  Man  as  represented  'WFmrmk  Ly  Fates  —  Clotho, 

Lachesis,  and  Atro-  allegory 

becomes  plainer  when  one  reads 

the  accompan-  yiug  inscrip¬ 
tions.  Thus  ^  W  beneath  the 

Clotho,  with  her 


COMUS  — By  H.  O.  Walker. 


distaff  and  the  baby  upon  her  knee,  spinning  the  thread  of  life,  are  the  words  : 

,  .  For  a  web  begun  God  sends  thread. 

l^ackay’s 

“Fates.”  Lnehesifi,  the  weaver,  is  seen  in  the  second  picture,  with  shuttle  and  loom. 

The  child  has  become  a  man,  the  stream  a  river,  the  twig  a  tree  of 
which  the  man  is  gathering  the  fruit ;  and  we  read 

The  web  of  life  is  a  mingled  yarn. 

Good  and  ill  together. 

Then  comes  Atropos,  severing  with  her  fateful  shears  the  old  man’s  life  thread  as  he 
pauses  beneath  the  withered  tree  to  gaze  at  the  setting  sun  ;  and  here  are  written  the 
words  of  Milton  in  “Lycidas”  : 

Comes  the  blind  Fury  with  th’  abhorred  shears. 

And  slits  the  thin-spun  life. 

The  Printers’  Marks  are  those  of  Italian  and  Spanish  houses  ;  while  the  names  of 
American  printers,  type  founders,  and  press  builders  are  to  be  read  upon  the  mural 
tablets  ;  Green,  Day,  Franklin,  Thomas,  Bradford  ;  and  Clymer,  Adams,  Gordon,  Hoe, 
and  Bruce. 

The  Entrance  to  the  Rotunda  Galleries  is  from  the  middle  of  this  East  Corridor  by  a 
branching  stairway  of  marble.  In  the  bays  beside  it  are  two  charming  paintings  by 
W.  B.  Van  Ingen,  illustrating  Joy  and  Sadness  as  suggested  by  Milton’s  poems 
“L’ Allegro”  and  “II  Penserose.”  The  former  is  a  light-haired,  cheerful  woman, 
among  flowers  and  happy  in  the  sunshine,  near  which  is  quoted  : 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


71 


Come,  thou  goddess  fair  and  free, 

In  Heave  i  ycleped  Euphrosyne, 

And  by  men,  heart-easing  Mirth. 

Haste  thee,  nymph,  and  bring  with  thee 
Jest  and  youthful  jollity, 

Quips,  and  cranks,  and  wanton  wiles. 

Nods  and  becks,  and  wreathed  smiles. 

Such  as  hang  on  Hebe’s  cheek. 

And  love  to  live  in  dimple  sleek. 

The  other,  a  dark-visaged  woman,  expresses  in  her  pensive  face,  mien,  and  surround 
ings  sadness  and  introspection  : 

Hail  !  thou  Goddess,  sage  and  holy  1 
Hail,  divinest  Melancholy  I 
***** 

Come  ;  but  keep  thy  wonted  state. 

With  even  step  and  musing  gait. 

And  looks  commercing  with  the  skies, 

Tliy  rapt  soul  sitting  in  thine  eyes : 

There,  held  in  holy  passion  still, 

Forget  thyself  to  marble.  .  .  . 


Van  lng:en 
Paintings. 


At  the  head  of  the  stairs,  on  the  wall  landing,  is  Elihu  Vedder’s  colossal  mosaic  (in 
glass)  of  Minerva  —  Goddess  of  Wisdom  —  perhaps  the  grandest  single  object  among  the 
library  decorations.  This  mosaic  forms  an  arched  panel,  feet  high 
and  9  feet  wide,  bordered  by  a  design  of  laurel  branches.  The  figure  of  The  YeddCf 

Minerva  is  that  of  a  magnificent  —  almost  masculine  —  woman,  a  I'losaic. 

chieftainess  whose  armor  has  been  partly  laid  aside,  and  who  now 
addresses  her  mind  to  the  arts  of  peace.  The  sun  of  prosperity 

is  bursting  through  the  war-clouds,  and  winged 

Victory  beside  her  holds  forth  with  one 

hand  the  olive  ' .■  branch,  while 

with  the  other  ®  ^  dispenses 

the  rewards  *  "cf"^***^*V  to  the  con- 

querors.  Still  hold¬ 
ing  her  protecting 

spear,  k  -  v  she  now 


ENDYMION— By  H.  O.  Walker. 


contemplates  with  attention  and  benignant  gaze  an  unfolded  scroll  upon  which  she 
reads  the  names  of  branches  of  knowledge  —  Law,  Statistics,  Sociology,  Philosophy, 
and  the  Sciences.  The  whole  is  grand  and  stately  in  conception,  bold  in  drawing,  and 
glowing  in  color,  especially  when  seen  by  electric  light. 

Passing  up  this  staircase,  and  turning  either  to  the  left  or  right  (where  there  are 
entrances  to  elevators),  the  visitor  passes  through  doors  admitting  him  to  the  public 
gallery  of  the  Rotunda. 


72 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  Rotunda. 

The  Rotunda  is  a  grand,  octagonal  hall,  100  feet  in  diameter,  occupying  the  whole 
center  of  the  building,  and  rising  unobstructed  from  the  main  floor  to  the  canopy  within 
the  dome  —  a  height  of  125  feet.  The  walls  are  outwardly  of  Mar3'land 
The  Rotunda,  granite,  immensely  thickened  by  courses  of  brick,  and  lined  with  African 
and  Italian  marbles. 

The  dome  is  carried  upon  eight  massive  piers,  connected  by  noble  arches,  each  arch 
filled  above  the  capitals  of  its  supporting  pillars  with  semicircular  windows  of  clear 
glass,  thiity-two  feet  wide.  The  broad  intrados  of  each  arch  is  tilled  with  sunken 
panels  of  color  and  gilded  rosettes,  in  conformity  with  the  general  design  of  ceiling 
treatment.  A  heavy  entablature  of  classic  ornament  (designed  by  Mr.  Casey),  in  high 
relief,  with  all  the  prominences  gilded,  runs  all  around  the  rotunda,  into  eveiy  alcove, 
and  out  around  all  the  eight  piers.  Each  of  the  eight  bays  beneath  this 
Dome  and  entablature  is  filled  with  a  two-storied  loggia  of  yellow  variegated  Siena 

’jralleries.  marble,  the  lower  story  consisting  of  three  arches  divided  by  square 

engaged  pillars  with  Corinthian  capitals,  the  second  story  of  seven  lesser 
arches  supported  by  small  pillars  of  Ionic  style,  extremely  graceful ;  and  above  all  is 
carried  an  open  gallery  protected  by  a  balustrade.  These  loggias  and  the  upper  galler¬ 
ies,  nearly  forty  feet  from  the  floor,  run  all  around  the  rotunda ;  and  it  is  from  these, 
reached  from  the  grand  staircase,  and  overlooking  the  whole  room,  that  the  sight-seeing 
public  gaze  upon  the  apartment  and  its  busy  workers,  who  are  not  permitted  to  be  dis¬ 
turbed  by  the  intrusion  of  casual  visitors.  These  loggias  form  the  eight  sides  of  the 
hall,  the  two  entrances  to  which  are  further  distinguished  by  facades  of  Siena  marble, 
which  are  perfect  examples  of  the  Corinthian  style.  Between  each  two  adjacent  loggias, 
filling  the  corners  of  the  octagon,  and  forming  the  inner  face  of  the  eight  great  pro¬ 
jecting  piers,  that  support  the  arches  and  sustain  the  dome,  are  splendid  columns  and 
faces  of  two  shades  of  dark  Numidian  marble,  crowned  by  golden  Corinthian  capitals, 
and  standing  upon  pedestals  of  the  chocolate-tinted  marble  of  East  Tennessee. 

On  the  summit  of  each  of  these  columns  stands  a  colossal  emblematic  statue,  the 
eight  representing  the  principal  departments  of  human  thought  and  development ;  they 
are  of  plaster,  toned  an  ivory-white,  ten  and  one-half  feet  in  height,  and  sixty  feet  from 
the  floor,  and  beginning  at  the  right  of  the  entrance,  are  as  follows  :  Religion,  b}"  Th. 
Bauer ;  Commerce,  by  J.  Flanagan  ;  History,  by  D.  C.  French ;  Art,  by  Dozzi,  of 
France,  after  sketches  by  Aug.  St.  Gaudens  ;  Philosophy,  b}^  B.  L.  Pratt ;  Poetry,  bj" 
Ward  ;  Law,  by  P.  W.  Bartlett,  and  Science,  by  J.  Donoghue.  Each  is  distinguished 
by  some  symbol,  and  above  each,  on  a  tablet  supported  by  child-figures  modeled  by 
Martiny,  are  inscriptions,  chosen  by  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University,  each  appro¬ 
priate  to  its  theme,  thus  ; 

Above  the  figure  of  Eeligion, 

What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God. — Micah  vi:  8. 

Above  the  figure  of  Commerce, 

We  taste  the  spices  of  Arabia,  yet  never  feel  the  scorching  sim  which  brings  them 
forth. — Anonymous. 

Above  the  figure  of  History, 

One  God,  one  law,  one  element. 

And  one  far-off  divine  event. 

To  which  the  whole  creation  moves.— Tennyson. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


73 


Above  the  figure  of  Art, 

,  As  one  lamp  lights  another,  nor  grows  less, 

So  nobleness  enkindleth  nobleness. — Lowell. 

Above  the  figure  of  Philosophy, 

The  enquiry,  knowledge,  and  belief  of  truth  is  the  sovereign  good  of  human  nature.— £acon. 

Above  the  figure  of  Poetry, 

Hither,  as  to  their  fountain,  other  stars 
Repairing,  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light.— AfiWon. 

Above  the  figure  of  Law, 

Of  law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  voice  is  the  harmony  of  the  world. 

— Hooker. 

Above  the  figure  of  Science, 

The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork. 

—  Psalms  xix:  1. 

Sixteen  portrait  statues,  personally  illustrating  the  great  lines  of  creative  thought 
above  enumerated,  stand  along  the  balustrade  of  the  gallery  ;  they  are  of  bronze,  and  in 
pairs,  one  on  each  side  of  and  overlooking  that  one  of  the  eight  colossal  ideal  statues 
above  described  of  which  its  original  was  a  type.  The  list  is  as  follows  : 

Typical  of  Religion:  Moses,  an  ideal  figure,  by 
Niehaus;  and  St.  Paul,  an  ideal  figure,  by  Donoghue. 
Commerce:  Columbus,  by  Paul  W.  Bartlett ;  and  Robert 
Fulton,  by  Ed  C.  Potter.  History:  Her¬ 
odotus,  modeled  after  Greek  sculptures.  Rotunda 
by  D.  C.  French  ;  and  Gibbon,  by  Nie-  StatUCS. 
haus.  Art :  Michaelangelo,  by  P.  W. 

Bartlett ;  and  Beethoven,  by  Baur.  Philosophy:  Plato, 
from  Greek  busts,  by  J.  J.  Boyle  ;  and  Bacon,  also  by 
Boyle,  Poetry :  Homer,  after  an  ideal  bust  of  ancient 
times,  by  Louis  St.  Gaudens  ;  and  Shakspere,  by  Mac- 
monnies,  modeled  after  the  Stratford  bust  and  the  por¬ 
trait  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Plays.  Imw  :  Solon, 
from  Greek  data,  by  Ruckstuhl ;  and  Chancellor  Kent, 
by  George  Bissell.  Science :  Newton,  by  C.  E.  Dallin  ; 
and  Joseph  Henry,  by  H.  Adams.  Except  the  idealiza¬ 
tions  mentioned  above,  all  are  from  authentic  portraits, 
including  details  of  costume,  etc. 

The  great  clock  of  the  rotunda,  over  the  door,  was 
modeled  by  J.  Flanagan.  “The  clock  itself  is  con¬ 
structed  of  various  brilliantly  colored  precious  marbles, 
and  is  set  against  a  background  of  mosaic,  on  which 
are  displayed,  encircling  the  clock,  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac  in  bronze  .  .  .  The  hands,  which  are  also 
gilded,  are  jeweled  with  semi-precious  stones.” 

The  spandrels  or  triangular  wall  spaces  between  the  arches  are  adorned  by  emblem¬ 
atic  figures  in  relief  and  brought  out  by  color,  and  the  whole  is  capped  by  an  encircling 
entablature  of  classic  beauty,  whence  springs  the  superb  canopy  of  the  arch,  filled  with 
rich  ornamentation  to  its  crown,  beneath  which,  in  the  collar  of  the  dome,  is  an  exceed¬ 
ingly  interesting  and  beautiful  series  of  figures  in  fresco,  by  E.  H.  Blashfield,  symbol¬ 
izing  the  relations  of  the  nations  to  human  progress — the  Evolution  of  Civilization. 


PHILOSOPHY.— By  Bela  L,  Pratt. 


74 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


This  glorious  fresco  consists  of  twelve  seated  figures,  men  and  women,  personifying 
the  great  nations  of  history.  All  are  winged,  but  this  fact  is  hardly  noticeable,  yet  of 
much  importance  in  uniting  into  a  whole  the  detached  figures.  Four  of 
Blashfield’s  them  are  more  conspicuous  by  their  lighter  colors  than  the  rest,  and  they 
Dome  are  not  only  those  of  most  importance  historically  —  Egypt,  Rome,  Italy, 

Frescos.  and  England  —  but  they  mark  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass. 

Egypt,  standing  at  the  dawn  of  civilization,  is  appropriately  placed  at  the 
east,  and  is  a  male  figure  of  an  ancient  Egyptian,  holding  a  tablet.  Judea  is  a  woman  in 
an  attitude  of  prayer,  whose  parted  robe  displays  the  vestment  of  a  Jewish  high  priest; 
a  pillar  beside  her  is  inscribed,  Leviticus,  xix:  18,  “Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.”  Greece  is  personified  by  a  beautiful,  diadem-crowned  woman.  Rome  by  a 
warrior  in  the  armor  of  a  centurion,  resting  his  hands  upon  the  Roman  fasces.  For 
Islam  is  chosen  an  Arab,  representing  the  learned  Moorish  race  and  Moslem  power.  Next 
to  him  is  a  female  figure  personifying  the  Middle  Ages,  typifying  by  her  sword,  casque, 
and  cuirass  the  great  institution  of  chivalry,  while  the  rule  of  the  medieval  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  suggested  by  the  papal  tiara  and  keys.  By  her  sits  white-robed  Italy 
—  the  mother  of  the  fine  arts,  whose  symbols  she  has;  and  turned  toward  her  is  a  printer 
of  the  early  days,  standing  for  Germany,  where  this  art  originated.  Spain  is  a  cavalier 
or  navigator,  eager  for  war,  adventure,  and  discovery  Next  him  sits  a  gracious  woman, 
representative  of  England,  recalling  in  her  costume  the  literary  glories  of  the  Eliza¬ 
bethan  age  and  displaying  an  open  folio  of  Shakspere’s  plays.  France  is  next —  Repub¬ 
lican  France  —  sitting  upon  a  cannon  but  holding  out  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of 
Man.  The  twelfth  figure  completes  the  circle  —  America,  typified  in  an  Engineer,  con¬ 
sulting  a  scientific  book,  while  in  front  of  him  stands  an  electric  dynamo. 

This  series  thus  has  a  double  significance  —  each  personage  standing  not  only  for  a 
nation  geographically  and  historically  considered,  but  for  the  genius  or  characteristic 
idea  of  each.  “Thus,”  remarks  Mr.  R.  Cortissoz,  “Egypt  is  the  representative  of  written 
records,  Judea  typifies  religion,  Greece  is  the  standard-bearer  of  philoso- 
Sig^nificancc.  phy,  Rome  bears  the  same  relation  toward  administration,  Islam  stands  for 
physics,  the  Middle  Ages  are  figured  as  the  fountain-head  of  modern 
languages,  Italy  is  represented  as  the  source  of  the  fine  arts,  Germany  as  sponsor  for  the 
art  of  printing,  Spain  as  the  first  great  power  in  discovery,  England  as  a  mighty  bulwark 
of  literature,  the  France  of  the  eighteenth  century  as  emblematic  of  emancipation,  and 
America  as  the  nation  of  scientific  genius.  Each  figure  holds  the  insignia  of  its  place.” 

In  the  canopy  of  the  dome,  above  and  within  the  collar,  Mr.  Blashfield  has  also 
painted,  as  if  floating  in  the  sky,  an  exquisitely  graceful  female  figure,  called  Human 
Understanding,  who  lifts  her  veil  and  gazes  up,  as  if  seeking  more  and 
“  Human  more  guidance  from  on  high.  Two  cherubs  attend  her,  canying  the 
Under-  Book  of  Knowledge. 

standing.”  The  practical  work  of  the  library  concentrates  in  the  rotunda,  where  (in 
the  center)  stands  the  circular  desk  of  the  superintendent  and  his  assist¬ 
ants,  who  can  speedily  communicate  with  all  parts  of  the  building  b}^  a  system  of  tele¬ 
phones,  and  by  pneumatic  tubes,  which  carry  messages  and  orders  for  books  to  any 
required  room  or  book-stack.  The  floor  is  filled  with  small  desks, 
Adminis-  arranged  in  concentric  circles  and  separated  by  light  screens  or  curtains, 
tration.  and  the  intrusion  of  mere  sight-seers  is  forbidden.  Unlimited  light  and 

air  are  assured,  and  quiet  is  enforced;  while  celerity  in  obtaining  and 
distributing  books  is  secured  by  various  devices  that  librarians  elsewhere  will  admire 
and  copy.  As  there  is  a  constant  call  for  books  of  reference  from  the  Capitol,  where  the 
legislators  often  want  a  volume  for  instant  use,  an  underground  tunnel,  four  feet  wide 
and  six  feet  high,  has  been  made  between  the  two  buildings,  containing  an  endless  cable 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 


75 


carrier,  upon  which  books  may  be  sent  back  and  forth  at  great  speed.  An  assistant, 
cyclopedias,  etc.,  are  stationed  at  the  Capitol  terminus. 

The  stack-rooms,  or  apartments  where  the  books  themselves  are  kept,  open  out  on 
each  side  of  the  rotunda  into  the  lofty  wings  that  divide  the  interior  courts,  whose 
enameled  walls  reflect  a  flood  of  light  into  their  numerous  windows. 

These  repositories  contain  the  most  improved  arrangement.  Cases  of  Care  Of 

iron,  rising  sixty-flve  feet  to  the  roof,  are  filled  with  adjustable  shelves  Books. 

of  coated  steel  as  smooth  as  glass.  The  floors  of  these  rooms  are  mar¬ 
ble,  and  the  decks,  at  intervals  of  every  seven  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  by  which  the 
attendants  reach  the  shelves,  are  simply  slabs  of  white  marble  on  steel  bars.  Cleanliness 
and  ventilation  are  thus  fully  assured.  Each  of  these  stacks  w’T  hold  800,000  books  ; 
and  the  present  capacity  of  all  those  erected  is  about  2,000,000  volumes,  while  addi¬ 
tional  space  can  be  made  for  2,500,000  more,  or  nearly  4,500,000  volumes  in  all  —  more 
than  the  probable  accumulation  of  the  next  century  and  a  half.  The  greatest  existing 
library  in  the  world,  that  of  France,  now  contains  about  2,500,000  volumes.  The 
available  space  for  all  purposes  here  is  largely  in  excess  of  that  of  the  British  Museum, 
and  amounts  to'  more  than  two- thirds  that  of  the  Capitol  itself.  To  Capt.  Bernard 
Green  belongs  the  high  credit  for  the  invention  and  perfection  of  these  mechanical 
arrangements  for  the  care  of  the  books,  and  for  many  other  improvements  in  library 
administration.  The  stack-rooms  are  not  open  to  the  public,  but  glimpses  of  them  may 
be  caught  through  glass  doors  in  the  rotunda  gallery. 

Consultation  of  the  books  is  open  to  anyone  in  the  reading-room,  though  no  books 
can  be  taken  out.  The  applicant  writes  the  title  of  the  book  he  wants  and  his  own 
address  on  a  blank  ticket,  which  he  hands  in  at  the  central  desk,  where 
he  presently  gets  the  book.  Seats  are  arranged  at  circular  desks  which  Rcading'- 

will  accommodate  about  250  readers.  No  one  may  take  books  out  of  rOOm. 

the  library  except  members  of  Congress,  and  about  thirty  other  high 
officials. 

A  restaurant  is  maintained  in  the  attic  (reached  bj'^  elevator)  which  is  open  to  the 
public  during  the  day  and  evening. 

The  basement  is  devoted  to  the  offices  of  the  library  (including  that  of 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Building  and  Grounds),  and  to  the  Copyright  Restaurant. 
Office.  This  is  cpiartered  in  a  large  hall  on  the  south  side,  but  contains 
nothing  to  interest  the  sight  seer. 

This  office  grants  copyrights  upon  all  kinds  of  literary  material,  upon  the  payment 
of  certain  small  fees  and  compliance  with  regulations  as  to  the  deposit  of  two 
copies  of  the  publication  in  this  library,  and  the  proper  publication  of 
notice  of  copyright.  The  law  makes  this  right  apply  to  author,  inventor.  Copyright 
designer,  or  proprietor  of  any  book,  map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  Office, 

composition,  engraving,  cut,  print,  or  photograph  or  negative  thereof,  or 
of  a  painting,  drawing,  chromo,  statue,  statuary,  and  of  models  or  designs  intended  to 
be  perfected  as  works  of  the  fine  arts,  and  the  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns  of 
any  such  person  shall,  upon  complying  with  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  have  the 
sole  liberty  of  printing,  reprinting,  publishing,  completing,  copying,  executing,  finish¬ 
ing,  and  vending  the  same  ;  and,  in  the  case  of  a  dramatic  composition,  of  publicly  i)er- 
forming  or  representing  it,  or  causing  it  to  be  performed  or  represented  by  others.  This 
privilege  remains  protected  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  may  then  be  renewed  for  four¬ 
teen  years. 

The  pictures  of  paintings  in  the  Library,  appearing  in  this  chapter,  are  from  copyrighted  photo¬ 
graphs  by  Howard  Gray  Douglas,  supplied  by  Houghton  &  Delano. 


A  VESTIBULE  VISTA 


THE  NORTH  CORRIDOR.  —  Second  Story,  Main  Entrance  hall 


ON  CAPITOL  HILL. 


The  plateau  east  of  the  Capitol  was  considered  by  the  founders  of  the  city  the  most 
desirable  region  for  residence,  and  truly  it  was  in  those  days,  as  compared  with  the 
hills  and  swamps  of  the  northwestern  quarter  or  the  lowlands  along  the 
river.  The  principal  owner  was  Daniel  Carroll,  and  when  the  alternate  Early 

city  lots  were  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  funds,  higher  prices  were  Expectations, 
paid  for  them  here  than  elsewhere.  Carroll  considered  himself  sure  to  be 
a  millionaire,  but  died  poor  at  last ;  Robert  Morris  of  Philadelphia,  the  financier  of  the 
Revolution,  invested  heavily  here  and  lost  accordingly  ;  and  the  two  lots  which 
Washington  himself  bought  cost  him  about  |1,000. 

Daniel  Carroll  built  for  himself  what  was  then  considered  a  very  fine  mansion, 
styled  Duddington  Manor  ;  and  that  it  really  was  a  spacious,  comfortable,  and  elegant 


WEST  FRONT  CAPITOL  AT  NIGHT,  ILLUMINATED  WITH  SEARCH-LlGHTS. 


house  can  be  seen  by  anyone  who  will  walk  down  New  Jersey  Avenue,  three  blocks 
southeast  of  the  Capitol,  and  then  a  block  east  on  E  Street,  which  will  bring  him  in 
sight  of  the  old  house  upon  its  tree-shaded  knoll,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and 
desolate  amid  “  modern  improvements.”  Upon  the  personal  history  of  the  men  w'ho 
have  dined  beneath  its  roof,  and  the  stories  its  walls  might  repeat,  Mrs.  Lockwood  has 

79 


80 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


expatiated  pleasantly  in  her  valuable  book,  “  Historic  Homes  in  Washington,"  to  which 
everyone  must  be  indebted  who  discourses  upon  the  social  chronicles  of  the  capital. 

A  more  famous  building  was  the  old  Capitol  Prison,  as  it  came  to  be 
Old  Capitol  called  during  the  Civil  War,  whose  walls  still  stand  upon  the  block 
Prison.  facing  the  Capitol  grounds  at  the  intersection  of  Mar3'land  Avenue  with 

First  and  A  streets,  N.  E.,  enclosing  the  residences  called  Lanier  Place. 

This  was  a  spacious  brick  building  hastily  erected  by  the  citizens  of  Washington 
after  the  destruction  of  the  Capitol  by  the  British  in  1814,  to  accommodate  Congress  and 
hold  the  national  capital  here  against  the  renewed  assaults  of  those  who  wished  to  move 
the  seat  of  government  elsewhere.  While  it  was  building,  Congress  held  one  session  in 
Blodgett’s  “  great  hotel,”  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  former  General  Post  Office,  and 
then  sat  in  this  building  until  the  restored  Capitol  was  ready  for  them,  in  1827.  It  was 
a  big,  plain,  warehouse-like  structure,  which  was  turned  into  a  boarding-house  after 
Congress  abandoned  it,  and  there  Senator  John  C.  Calhoun  died  in  1850.  When  the 
Civil  War  broke  out  this  building  became  a  military  prison  for  persons  suspected  or 
convicted  of  aiding  and  abetting  the  secession  treason  to  which  his  influence  had  so  pow¬ 
erfully  contributed.  Washington  was  full  of  Southern  sj^mpathizers  and  spies,  and 
many  are  the  traditions  in  the  old  families  of  days  and  weeks  spent  by  overzealous 
members  in  “durance  vile  ”  within  its  walls,  guarded  by  the  “  law-and-order  brigade” 
of  the  Provost  Marshal’s  office,  which  formed  the  police  of  the  capital  in  those  da3's. 
Here  Wirz,  the  brutal  keeper  of  Andersonville  prison,  was  executed,  as  well  as  several 
other  victims  of  the  war.  Several  years  ago  it  was  remodeled  into  handsome  residences, 
one  of  which  was  the  home  of  Mr.  Justice  Field  until  his  death  in  1899. 

The  tall  brick  Maltby  Building,  directly  north  of  the  Capitol,  originall3^  a  hotel,  is 
now  occupied  by  congressional  committees,  and  is  called  the  Senate  Annex. 

The  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  a  scientific  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department 
to  map  the  coast,  chart  the  waters,  and  investigate  and  publish  movements  of  tides, 
currents,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  navigation,  is  domiciled  in  a  brick  build- 
Coast  ing  on  New  Jersey  Avenue,  south  of  the  Capitol,  immediately  in  the  rear 

Survey.  of  the  great  stone  house  built  long  ago  by  Benjamin  F  Butler  as  a  resi¬ 

dence,  and  which  is  now  principally  occupied  b3^  the  Marine  Hospital 
Service.  New  Jersey  Avenue  leads  in  that  direction  to  Garfield  Park,  which  is  too  new 
to  be  of  interest,  and  beyond  that  to  the  shore  of  the  Anacostia,  near  the  Nav3"  Yard. 
Just  west  of  it  Delaware  Avenue  forms  a  perfectly  straight  street  to  Washington 
Barracks. 

Capitol  Hill,  as  the  plateau  of  the  Capitol  is  popularly  called,  can  3"et  show  many 
fine,  old-fashioned  homes,  though  some  formerly  notable  have  disappeared.  It  has  its 
own  shady  avenues,  quiet  cross  streets,  and  prett3^  parks.  In  Stanton 
Grccnc  Square  (three  and  one-half  acres),  half  a  mile  northeast  out  ]\Iar3iand 

Statue.  Avenue,  is  H.  K.  Brown’s  bronze  statue  of  Major-General  Nathanael 

Greene,  who  distinguished  himself  at  Eutaw  Spring  and  elsewhere  in  the 
South  during  the  Revolution,  and  to  whom  a  statue  was  voted  by  the  Continental  Con¬ 
gress.  This  statue,  which  was  cast  in  Philadelphia,  and  cost,  with  its  pedestal  of  New 
England  granite,  $50,000,  is  one  of  the  most  life-like  figures  in  Washington,  the  model¬ 
ing  of  the  horse  being  particularly  admirable.  The  Peabod3’’  School  confronts  this  neat 
square.  A  farther  walk  of  half  a  mile  down  Massachusetts  Avenue  takes  one  to  Lincoln 
Square —  a  beautifully  shaded  tract  of  six  and  one-quarter  acres,  just  a  mile  east  of  the 
Capitol.  Here  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  avenues  branch  off  northward  and  southward, 
the  former  leading  to  Graceland  and  Mount  Olivet  cemeteries,  and  the  latter  to  the  Con¬ 
gressional  Cemetery,  and  to  the  bridge  (over  the  Anacostia  to  Twining)  at  the  foot  of 
Pennsylvania  Avenue. 


ON  CAPITOL  HILL. 


81 


Christ  Church  (Protestant  Episcopal)  on  G  Street,  S.  E.,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh, 
is  the  oldest  church  in  the  city.  It  was  erected  in  1795,  and  was  attended  by 
Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison.  Services  are  still  held  there.  Christ 
Church  Cemetery,  more  popularly  known  as  the  Congressional  Burial  Christ 

Ground,  adjoins  the  grounds  of  the  workhouse  on  the  south,  and  Church, 

occupies  a  spacious  tract  on  the  bank  of  the  Anacostia.  It  contains 
the  graves  and  cenotaphs,  formerly  erected  by  Congress,  of  many  persons  once  promi¬ 
nent  in  official  life. 

This  cemetery  was  the  principal,  if  not  the  only  place  of  interment  at  the  beginning 
of  civilization  here ;  and  many  officials  who  died  at  the  capital  were  buried  there, 
and  the  practice  continues.  Congress  contributing  toward  the  support 
of  the  cemetery  in  consideration  of  this  fact.  Among  the  notable  men  Congrcs- 
buried  here  are :  Vice-President  George  Clinton  of  New  York  ;  Signer  sional 

and  Vice-President  Elbridge  Gerry  of  Massachusetts,  whose  name  gave  Cemetery, 
us  the  verb  “to  gerrymander”;  William  West,  born  in  Bladensburg 
in  1772,  a  distinguished  essayist  and  jurist,  and  finally  Attorney-General  under  Monroe ; 
Alexander  Macomb,  hero  of  Plattsburg  and  General  of  the  army  preceding  Scott,  who 
has  a  fine  military  monument ;  his  predecessor,  Gen.  Jacob  Brown,  resting  under 
a  broken  column ;  Tobias  Lear,  Washington’s  private  secretary ;  A.  D.  Bache,  the 
organizer  of  the  coast  survey,  and  several  distinguished  officers  of  the  old  army  and 
navy.  A  public  vault,  erected  by  Congress,  stands  near  the  center  of  the  grounds. 
The  nearest  street  cars  are  on  F  Street,  S.  E. 

All  this  old-settled  and  no  longer  fashionable  region,  near  the  Anacostia,  is  spoken 
of  rather  contemptuously  as  “the  navy  yard,”  and  it  supplies  a  fair  share  of  work 
for  the  police  courts  ;  but  it  is  greatly  beloved  of  soldiers  and  sailors  on  leave. 

In  Lincoln  Square,  the  most  beautiful  thing  is  the  lofty,  symmetrical  sycamore  tree 
in  the  center  ;  but  the  most  noted  object  is  the  Statue  Monument  to  the  Emancipation 
of  the  Slaves.  This  is  a  bronze  group,  erected  by  contributions  from  the 
colored  freedmen  of  the  United  States,  many  of  whom  were  set  free  by  Emancipation 
the  proclamation  which  is  represented  in  the  hand  of  the  great  benefactor  Monument, 
of  American  slaves,  one  of  whom  is  kneeling,  unshackeled,  at  his  feet. 

One  of  the  inscribed  tablets  upon  the  pedestal  informs  us  that  the  first  contribution  was 
the  first  free  earnings  of  Charlotte  Scott,  a  freed  woman  of  Virginia,  at  whose  suggestion, 
on  the  day  of  Lincoln’s  death,  this  monument  fund  was  begun.  This  statue,  twelve 
feet  high,  was  cast  in  Munich  at  an  expense  of  $17,000,  and  was  unveiled  on  April  14, 
1876,  the  eleventh  anniversary  of  Lincoln’s  assassination,  Frederick  Douglass  making 
the  oration. 

East  Capitol  Street  is  a  wide  avenue  running  straight,  one  mile,  from  this  park  to  the 
Capitol,  between  rows  of  elms  and  poplars,  and  continuing  onward  to  the  Eastern  Branch 
through  scanty  and  low-lying  suburbs.  On  the  same  river  bank,  at  the  east¬ 
ern  terminus  of  Massachusetts  Avenue,  occupying  a  reservation  called  District 

Hospital  Square,  are  the  District  Almshouse,  Workhouse  (or  Asylum  for  Institutions, 
the  Indigent),  and  the  stone  jail,  costing  $40,000,  in  which  several 
murderers,  including  Garfield’s  assailant,  Guiteau,  have  been  confined  and  executed. 
Some  distance  away,  on  the  Bladensburg  Road,  can  be  seen  the  buildings  of  the  Boys’ 
Reform  School.  All  these  institutions  are  well  worth  inspection  by  those  especially 
interested ;  but  the  view  of  them  obtained  from  passing  trains  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  will  satisfy  most  persons. 

The  Navy  Yard  is  one  of  the  places  which  visitors  to  Washington  Navy  Yard, 
are  usually  most  anxious  to  see,  but  it  usually  offers  little  to  reward 
their  curiosity  outside  of  the  gunshop,  museum,  and  trophies.  It  stands  on  the  banks 


6 


82 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


of  the  broad  tidal  estuary  of  the  Anacostia  River,  at  the  foot  of  Eighth  Street,  S.  E., 
and  is  the  terminus  of  the  cars  from  Georgetown  along  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The 
Anacostia  line  of  street  cars  along  M  Street,  S.  E.,  also  passes  the  gate. 

This  navy  yard  was  established  (1804)  as  soon  as  the  Government  came  here,  and  was 
an  ohjecd  of  destruction  by  the  British,  who  claim,  however,  that  it  was  set  on  fire  by 
the  Americans.  It  was  restored,  and  “for  more  than  half  a  century  many  of  the  largest 
and  finest  ships  of  war  possessed  by  the  United  States  were  constructed  in  this  yard.” 
Two  spacious  ship  houses  remain,  but  the  yard  is  now  almost  entirely  given  up  to  the 
manufacture  of  naval  guns  and  ammunition  and  the  storage  of  CHpiipments.  It  often 
happens  that  not  a  ship  of  any  sort  is  at  the  wharves  (though  a  receiving  ship  is  usually 
moored  there),  and  the  sentry  at  the  gate  is  almost  the  only  sign  of  military  occupation 
about  the  place. 

The  first  great  building  on  the  right,  the  Gun  Shop,  at  the  foot  of  the  stone  stairs, 
is  the  most  interesting  place  in  the  yard.  It  is  filled  with  the  most  powerful  and  ap¬ 
proved  machinery  for  turning,  boring,  rifling,  jacketing,  and  otherwise 
Ordnance  finishing  ready  for  work  the  immense  rifles  required  for  modern  battle- 
Factories.  ships,  as  well  as  the  smaller  rapid-fire  guns  forming  the  supplementary 
batteries  of  the  cruisers  and  other  vessels  of  war.  The  great  guns  are 
mainly  cast  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and  brought  here  rough.  Observing  carefully  the  posted 
regulations,  the  visitor  may  walk  where  he  plea.ses  through  these  magnificent  factories 
and  watch  the  extremely  interesting  process,  and  should  it  happen  that  any  vessels  of 
war  are  in  the  harbor,  permission  to  go  onboard  of  them  may  usually  be  obtained. 

The  office  of  the  commandant  of  the  yard  is  at  the  foot  of  the  main  walk  near  the 
wharf,  and  there  application  should  be  made  for  permission  to  go  anywhere  not  open 
to  the  public.  A  large  number  of  guns,  showing  types  used  in  the  past, 
Trophies.  are  lying  near  the  office,  and  a  series  of  very  interesting  cannon  captured 
from  the  Tripolitan,  British,  Mexican,  or  Confederate  enemies  whom  the 
navy  has  had  to  fight,  are  mounted  before  the  office.  Among  them  is  the  famous  42- 
pounder,  Long  Tom,  cast  in  1786  in  France,  captured  from  the  frigate  Noche  by  the 
British  in  1798,  and  then  sold  to  us.  Later  it  was  struck  by  a  shot,  condemned,  and 
sold  to  Haiti,  then  at  war  with  France.  This  over,  the  cannon  had  various  owners  until 
1814,  when  it  formed  the  main  reliance  in  the  battery  of  the  privateer  General  Arm¬ 
strong,  which,  by  pluckily  fighting  three  British  war-ships  off  Fayal,  in  the  Azores,  so 
crippled  them  that  the  squadron  was  unable  to  reach  New  Orleans,  whither  it  was 
bound,  in  time  to  help  the  land  forces  there  against  the  victorious  Jackson.  The  brig 
was  afterward  sunk  to  prevent  her  capture  by  the  British,  but  the  Portuguese  authori¬ 
ties  had  so  greatly  admired  the  little  ship’s  action  that  they  saved  this  gun  as  a  trophy, 
and  sent  it  as  a  present  to  the  United  States. 

A  museum  near  the  gate  is  worth  visiting,  as  it  contains  many  pieces  of  old-fashioned 
ordnance  and  ammunition,  and  many  relics  of  historical  or  legendary  interest,  of  which 
the  most  popular,  perhaps,  is  the  stern-post  of  the  original  Kearsarge, 
Navy  still  containing  a  shell  received  during  her  fight  with  the  Alabama.  The 

l^USeum.  door  of  the  museum  is  shaded  by  a  willow  grown  from  a  twig  cut  above 
the  grave  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena.  The  residences  of  officers  on  duty 
at  the  yard  are  near  the  gate,  which  was  built  from  designs  by  Latrobe. 

The  marine  barracks,  three  squares  above  the  Navy  Yard,  on  Eighth  Street,  S.  E., 
occupy  a  square  surrounded  by  brick  buildings  painted  yellow,  according  to  naval  cus¬ 
tom,  and  are  the  home  station  and  headquarters  of  the  Marine  Corps ; 
IMarine  Corps,  but,  except  that  here  is  the  residence  of  the  famous  Marine  Band,  they 
contain  nothing  of  interest  to  the  visitor,  unless  he  likes  to  watch  guard¬ 
mounting  every  morning  at  9,  or  the  formal  inspection  on  Mondays  at  10  a.  m.  The 


ON  CAPITOL  HILL. 


83 


Marine  Band  is  the  only  military  band  always  stationed  in  Washington,  and  available 
for  all  military  ceremonials.  These  advantages  have  given  it  great  excellence  ;  and  its 
music  at  parades,  President’s  receptions,  inaugural  balls,  etc.,  is  highly  appreciated. 
This  band  gives  outdoor  concerts  in  summer. 

The  Naval  Hospital,  for  sick  and  wounded  officers  and  men  of  the  Navy  and  Marine 
Corps,  is  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Ninth  Street,  S.  E.;  and  at  Second  and  D  streets, 
S.  E.,  is  Providence  Hospital,  founded  in  1862. 

Anacostia  is  a  name  ai)plied  in  an  indefinite  way  to  the  region  opposite  the  Navy 
Yard,  and  is  reached  by  a  bridge  at  the  foot  of  Eleventh  Street,  crossed  by  the  street 
cars  of  the  Anacostia  &  Potomac  line.  The  village  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  bridge,  now  called  Anacostia,  was  formerly  Uniontown,  and  from  it  AnacOStia 
branch  roads  lead  up  on  the  Maryland  heights  in  various  directions,  where  Suburbs, 
electric  railroads  and  park  villages  are  rapidly  extending.  Twining,  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue  bridge  ;  Lincoln  Heights,  in  the  extreme 
eastern  corner  of  the  district ;  Garfield  and  Good  Hope,  on  the  fine  Marlboro  Turnpike, 
which  is  a  favorite  run  for  cyclers  ;  and  Congress  Heights,  farther  south,  are  the  prin¬ 
cipal  of  these  suburban  centers.  All  of  these  high  ridges  were  CKOwned  and  connected 
by  fortifications,  some  of  which  remain  in  fairly  good  condition,  especially  Fort  Stanton, 
just  south  of  Garfield.  A  wide  and  interesting  view  of  the  city  and  the  Potomac  Valley 
is  obtained  from  its  ramparts,  and  also  of  the  great  Federal  Insane  Asylum. 


MUSEUM,  NAVY  YARD. 


I 


Botanical  Garden.  ^  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 

\i\Fw  I  nnuiKir:  wp<;t  poom  twp  PAPiroi 


V. 


FROM  THE  CAPITOL  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

A  Walk  Up  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 

Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  the  backbone  of  Washington  —  the  head  of  it  resting  upon 
the  storied  heights  of  Georgetown,  and  the  tail  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  shanties  east  of 
the  Navy  Yard.  It  is  four  miles  and  a  half  long,  but  is  broken  by  the 
Capitol  grounds  and  by  the  Treasury  and  White  House  grounds.  Pennsylvania 
Between  these  two  breaks  it  extends  as  a  straight  boulevard,  one  and  a  Avcnue. 

half  miles  in  length  and  160  feet  wide,  paved  with  asphalt  and  expanding 
at  short  intervals  into  spaces  or  parks  caused  by  the  angular  intersection  of  other 
streets.  It  will,  by-and-by,  be  among  the  grandest  streets  in  the  United  States. 

A  walk  up  “The  Avenue”  begins  at  the  western  gates  of  the  Capitol,  where  First 
Street,  N.  W.,  curves  across  its  rounded  front.  Pennsylvania  Avenue  strikes  north¬ 
west  ;  a  few  paces  to  the  left,  Maryland  Avenue  diverges  southwest,  straight  down  past 
the  National  Museum  to  Long  Bridge.  The  circles  at  the  beginning  of  these  streets  are 
filled  with  two  conspicuous  monuments  —  the  Naval  or  Peace  Memorial  at  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  and  the  Garfield  at  Maryland  Avenue. 


PENNSYLVANIA  AVENUE. —  Looking  East  from  the  Treasury  Department. 

85 


86 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  Naval  Monument  was  erected  in  1878  from  contributions  by  officers  and  men  of 
that  service,  “in  memory  of  the  officers,  seamen,  and  marines  of  the  United  States  Navy 
who  fell  in  defense  of  the  Union  and  liberty  of  their  country,  1861-1865.” 
Naval  It  was  designed  from  a  sketch  by  Admiral  David  D.  Porter,  elaborated 

Monument.  by  Franklin  Simmons,  at  Rome,  and  is  of  pure  Carrara  marble,  resting 

upon  an  elaborate  granite  foundation  designed  by  Edward  Clark,  the 
present  architect  of  the  Capitol.  America  is  sorrowfully  narrating  the  loss  of  her 
defenders,  while  History  records  on  her  tablet :  “  They  died  that  their  country  might 

live.”  Below  these  figures  on  the  western  plinth  of  the  monument  is  a  figure  of  Victory, 
with  an  infant  Neptune  and  Mars,  holding  aloft  a  laurel  wreath,  and  on  the  reverse  is  a 
figure  of  Peace  offering  the  olive  branch.  The  cost  was  $41,000,  half  of  which  was 
given  by  Congress  for  the  pedestal  and  its  two  statues. 


THE  NAVAL  MONUMENT. —  Pennsylvania  Avenue  near  Western  Entrance  to  Capitol  Grounds. 

The  Garfield  Statue  is  a  more  recent  acquisition,  having  been  erected  by  his  comrades 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  unveiled  in  1887,  to  commemorate  the  virtues  and 
popularity  of  President  James  A.  Garfield,  whose  assassination,  six 
Garfield  years  before,  had  horrified  the  whole  country.  The  statesman  stands 
Monument.  upon  a  massive  pedestal,  in  the  attitude  of  an  orator  ;  nearer  the  base  of 
the  statue  three  figures  represent  three  phases  of  his  career  —  student, 
soldier,  and  publicist.  This  statue  was  designed  by  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  and  erected  at  an 
expense  of  $65,000,  half  of  which  was  appropriated  by  Congress  to  pay  for  the  pedestal 
and  its  three  bronze  figures. 

In  the  triangle  between  these  two  avenues  lies  the  ten-acre  tract  of  the 
Botanical  Botanical  Garden,  where  Congressmen  get  their  button-hole  bouquets. 

Garden.  and  their  wives  cuttings  and  seeds  for  pretty  house-plants.  It  long  ago 

outlived  its  scientific  usefulness,  and  has  never  attained  excellence  as  a 
public  pleasure-garden  or  park,  while  its  cost  has  been  extravagant.  In  its  central 


87 


FROM  THE  CAPITOL  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 


exploring  expeditions;  and  the  conspicuous  illuminated  fountain  in  the  center  of  the 
grounds  is  the  one  by  Bartholdi,  so  greatly  admired  at  the  Centennial  Exposition,  1876. 
It  cost  $6,000. 

The  buildings  improve  as  we  proceed,  and  in  the  next  block,  on  the  right,  is  the 
National  Hotel,  whose  history  goes  back  to  the  early  decades  of  the  century,  for  in  the 
time  of  Clay  and  Webster  it  was  filled  with  the  leading  spirits  in  the 
government,  who  caused  many  memorable  things  to  happen  beneath  its  Early  Hotcis. 
roof.  Just  across  Sixth  street,  in  the  next  block,  is  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel,  covering  the  site  of  the  first  important  hotel  in  Washington,  the  “Indian  Queen,” 
which  was  the  scene  of  the  greatest  festivities  at  the  capital  during  the  first  third  of  the 
century. 

This  brings  us  to  Seventh  Street,  the  chief  north-and-south  artery  of  traffic.  Here 
Louisiana  Avenue  extends  northeastward  to  Judiciary  Square;  and  its  diagonal  crossing 
of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  leaves  a  triangle,  upon  which  stands  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Maj,  -Gen.  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  by  Henry  J.  Ellicott,,  erected  in  1896. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  avenue  here,  stretching  from  Seventh  to  Ninth  Street,  is 
Center  Market,  one  of  the  most  spacious,  convenient,  well-furnished,  and  withal  pictur¬ 
esque  establishments  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  No  one  should  consider 
a  tour  of  Washington  made  until  they  have  spent  an  early  morning  hour  Center 

in  this  market,  and  in  the  open-air  country  market  behind  it,  along  the  Market, 

railings  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  where  the  gaunt  farmers  of  the  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  Maryland  hills  stand  beside  their  ramshackle  wagons,  or  hover  over  little 
fii  •es  to  keep  warm,  and  quaint  old  rkies  offer  for  sale  old-fashioned  flowers  and 

“yarbs.”  live  chickens,  and  fresh-laid 
eggs,,  bunches  of  salad  or  fruit  from 
their  tiny  suburban  fields,  smoking  cob 
pipes  and  crooning  wordless  melodies 
just  as  they  used  to  do  in  “befo’  de  wa’  ” 
days.  There  are  four  or  five  great  mar¬ 
kets  in  Washington.  Between  the  market 
and  Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  a  park  space. 
Here  stands  the  Statue  of  Maj. -Gen.  John 
A.  Rawlins,  Grant’s  Chief 
of  Staff,  and  later  his  Sec-  Rawlins 
retary  of  War,  who  also  Statue, 

has  a  small  park  named 
after  him  in  the  rear  of  the  War  Office, 
where  this  monument  was  first  erected. 
This  statue,  which  is  of  bronze,  after  de¬ 
signs  by  J.  Bailey,  cast  in  Philadelphia, 
from  rebel  cannon  captured  by  Grant’s 
armies,  was  erected  in  1874,  and  paid  for 
($12,000)  by  friends  of  Rawlins,  who  died 
here  in  1869. 

Good  modern  buildings  and  fine  stores 
line  the  avenue  from  here  on  to  Fifteenth 
Street,  especially  on  the  northern  side.  At 
Ninth  Street  another  north-and-south 
artery  of  street-car  traffic  is  crossed,  and 
the  Academy  of  Music  appears  at  the 
right. 


BRONZE  STATUE  OF  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 
Southwestern  Entrance  to  Capitol  Grounds. 

By  J.  Q.  A.  Ward 


88 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASIIINGTOTI 


Tenth  Street,  the  next,  is  historic.  At  the  left,  past  the  market,  is  the  principal  en¬ 
trance  to  the  Smithsonian  grounds.  The  open  space  here  is  decorated  with  Plassman’s 
Statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  looking  shrewdly  down  upon  the  trafficking 
Franklin  throng,  as  that  eminent  man  of  affairs  was  wont  to  do.  It  is  marble,  of 

Statue.  heroic  size,  represents  Franklin  in  his  court  dress  as  Minister  to  the  Court 

of  France,  and  was  presented  to  the  city  in  18(S9  by  Stilson  Hutchins,  an 
editor  and  writer  of  wide  reputation.  The  assassination  of  President  Lincoln  occurred 
in  the  old  Ford’s  Theater  on  this  Tenth  Street,  in  the  second  block  north  of  Pennsylva¬ 
nia  Avenue,  and  the  buildings  made  sacred  by  the  event  are  still  standing. 

Ford’s  Theater,  which  during  the  Civil  War  was  the  leading  theater  in  the  city,  has 
long  been  occupied  by  the  Government  as  offices.  Here,  on  the  night  of  April  14, 1865, 
President  Lincoln,  with  members  of  his  family  and  staff,  went,  by  special 
Ford’s  invitation,  to  witness  a  play  in  which  the  actor  J.  Wilkes  Booth  had  a 

Theater.  principal  part.  During  an  intermission,  Booth  entered  the  box  in  which 

the  President  sat,  shot  him  in  the  back  of  his  head  with  a  revolver,  and 
then  leaped  to  the  stage.  At  the  same  time,  other  assassins  made  attempts  upon  the 
life  of  the  cabinet  officers — that  upon  Secretary  Wm.  H.  Seward  nearly  proving  suc¬ 
cessful.  Booth  leaped  to  the  stage,  and,  with  the  other  assassins,  made  his  escape,  but 
all  were  soon  recaptured,  brought  to  Washington  (all  except  Booth,  who  was  killed  in 
Maryland),  and  incarcerated  in  the  military  penitentiary  at  the  Arsenal,  where  four 
of  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy  were  tried  and  hung.  Ford’s  Theater  was  at  once 
closed  by  order  of  the  Government,  which  purchased  the  building  in  1866.  It  was 
remodeled  and  appropriated  to  the  uses  of  the  Record  and  Pension  Division  of  the  War 
Department,  and  on  June  9,  1893,  suffered  a  collapse  of  the  floors,  which  caused  the 
death  and  maiming  of  many  clerks.  During  all  this  time  the  proscenium  pillar,  next 


FROM  THE  CAPITOL  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  89 

which  Mr.  Lincoln  sat  when  he  was  killed,  had  been  preserved  in  place,  properly- 
marked;  it  survived  the  disaster  of  1893,  and  can  still  be  seen. 

The  house  in  which  Lincoln  died  (No.  516  10th  Street,  between  E  and  F)  contains 
the  Oldroyd  Lincoln  memorial  collection,  begun  by  O.  H.  Oldroyd,  in  1860,  and  now 
comprising  three  thousand  objects  connected  with  or  relating  to  the  martyred  Presi¬ 
dent.  Among  them  are  the  following:  Family 
Bible  in  which  Lincoln  wrote  his  name  in  Oldroyd 

boyhood;  log  from  the  old  Lincoln  home;  stand  Lincoln 

made  from  logs  of  house  in  which  Lincoln  I^USCUm. 
lived,  1832-36;  rail  split  by  Lincoln  and  John 
Hanks  in  1830  (with  affidavit  by  Hanks);  discharge  given 
to  one  of  his  men  by  Captain  A.  Lincoln,  Black  Hawk  war, 
1832;  picture  of  Springfield  house;  flag  carried  in  Lincoln 
and  Hamlin  campaign;  office  chair  in  which  Lincoln  sat 
when  he  drafted  his  first  Cabinet;  farewell  address  to  neigh¬ 
bors;  articles  of  furniture  from  the  Springfield  home;  auto¬ 
graph  letters;  life-mask  and  cast  of  hands  by  L.  W.  Volk; 
bill  of  the  play  “Our  American  Cousin”;  250  funeral  ser- 

OLDROYD  LINCOLN  MUSEUM.  no  I  ^  v  or-o  f  -1  •  i  v  .n 

mons;  63  marches  and  dirges;  263  portraits,  including  the 
earliest  known;  209  medals;  the  spur  and  flag  which  played  a  prominent  part  in  Booth’s 
leap  from  the  box  in  the  theater. 

At  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  is  The  Evening  Star,  opposite  which,  filling  the 
whole  square  from  Eleventh  to  Twelfth  Street,  is  the  Post  Office,  elsewhere  described. 

On  the  corner  of  Twelfth  Street  stands  the  lofty  Raleigh  Hotel.  On  the  opposite 
corner,  is  the  terminus  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mount  Vernon  Electric 
Railway.  The  two  pretty  little  parks  at  Thirteenth  Street  are  con¬ 
fronted  by  hotels,  restaurants,  etc.,  and  the  National  Theater,  which  is  Twelfth  tO 
among  the  foremost  places  of  amusement  in  the  city.  Adjoining  the  Fifteenth 
National  Theater  is  The  Washington  Times.  The  handsome  home  of  The  Streets. 
Post,  the  leading  morning  newspaper,  is  just  beyond.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  avenue  is  seen  the  headquarters  building  of  the  Southern  Railway  system. 

Fourteenth  Street  is  the  most  important  thoroughfare,  north  and  south,  in  this  part 
of  the  city,  extending  from  the  Long  Bridge,  at  the  foot  of  Maryland  Avenue,  north¬ 
ward  to  Mount  Pleasant.  The  Belt  Line  cars  run  southward  upon  it  from  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  to  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  and  so  on  around  to  the  Capitol.  At 
the  right  (northward)  the  street  slopes  steeply  up  the  hill  to  F  Street,  and  this  block,  as 
far  as  the  Ebbitt  House,  is  known  as  Newspaper  Row,  because  filled  with  the  offices  of 
correspondents  of  newspapers  all  over  the  country.  Opposite  them,  occupying  the 
northwest  corner,  is  Willard’s  Hotel.  The  new  Municipal  building  is  on  the  southeast 
corner. 

The  block  opposite  Willard’s  is  devoted  to  business  houses,  and  has  the  Regent 
Hotel.  Around  the  corner  to  the  left,  on  Fifteenth  Street,  are  the  Chase’s  Opera  House, 
the  armory  of  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  the  house  of  the  Capital  Bicycle  Club,  etc. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  avenue,  against  the  southern  portico  of  the  Treas¬ 
ury,  and  in  sight  of  the  impressive  Sherman  memorial.  Turning  to  the  right,  up  the 
slope  of  Fifteenth  Street,  we  pass  the  busy  terminus  of  F  Street,  and  go  on  to  G,  where 
the  Riggs  House  forms  a  dignified  corner-piece.  A  few  steps  farther,  the  broad  avenue 
in  front  of  the  Treasury  opens  the  way  northward,  and  brings  us  to  that  goal  of  patri¬ 
otic  ambition — the  White  House. 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE.  — FROM  LAFAYETTE  SQUARE. 


VI. 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 

The  Executive  Mansion,  more  commonly  called  the  White  House,  has  gained  for 
itself  a  world-wide  reputation  in  a  century’s  existence.  George  Washington  was  present 
at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  in  1792,  in  what  then  was  simply  David 
Burns’  old  fields  stretching  down  to  the  Potomac  (for  this  was  the  first  History, 
public  building  to  be  erected),  but  John  Adams  was  the  first  President  to 
live  in  the  building  (1800),  which  was  still  so  new  and  damp  that  his  wife  v/as  obliged 
to  have  a  literal  house-warming  to  dry  the  interior  sufficiently  for  safety  to  health.  Its 
cost,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  about  $250,000. 

The  architect,  James  Hoban,  who  had  won  reputation  by  building  some  of  the  fine 
houses  on  the  Battery  in  Charleston,  took  his  idea  of  the  mansion  from  the  house  of  the 


THE  EXECUTIVE  OFFICES. 


Irish  Duke  of  Leinster,  in  Dublin,  who  had,  in  turn,  copied  the  Italian  style.  The 
material  is  Virginia  sandstone,  the  length  is  170  feet,  and  the  width  86  feet.  The  house 
stands  squarely  north  and  south,  is  of  two  stories  and  a  basement,  has  a  heavy  balustrade 
along  the  eaves,  a  semicircular  colonnade  on  the  south  side  (facing  the  river  and  finest 
grounds),  and  a  grand  portico  and  porte-cochere  on  the  northern  front,  added  in  Jack¬ 
son’s  time.  Its  cost,  to  the  present,  exceeds  $1,500,000.  In  1814  the  British  set  fire  to, 
the  building,  but  heavy  rains  extinguished  the  confiagration  before  it  had  greatly  injured, 
the  walls.  Three  years  later  the  house  had  been  restored,  and  the  whole  was  then  painted 
white,  to  cover  the  ravages  of  fire  on  its  freestone  walls,  a  color  which  has  been  kept 
ever  since,  and  is  likely  to  remain  as  long  as  the  old  house  does,  not  only  because  of  the 
tradition,  but  because  it  is  really  effective  among  the  green  foliage  in  wnicn  the  mansion 
is  ensconced.  It  was  reopened  for  the  New  Year’s  Day  reception  of  President  Monroe 
in  1818.  Alterations  and  additions  to  the  White  House  were  made  in  1908-03 

«  4 


EAST  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 


93 


'  The  President’s  Grounds  consist  of  some  eighty  acres  sloping  down  to  the  Potomac 
Flats.  The  immediate  gardens  were  early  attended  to,  as  is  shown  by  the  age  and  size 
of  the  noble  trees;  but  only  lately  has  the  more  distant  part  of  the  grounds 
been  set  in  order.  This  part,  as  also  the  park  nearer  the  house  (locally  President’s 

known  as  the  White  Lot)  is  open  freely  to  the  public,  under  the  eye  of  Grounds, 
policemen;  and  here,  in  warm  weather,  the  Marine  Band  gives  outdoor 
concerts  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  people  come  to  enjoy  them.  At  such  times  fashion 
gathers  in  its  carriages  upon  the  winding  roads  south  of  the  mansion,  and  assumes  the 
formal  parade  of  Rotten  Row  or  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  It  is  here,  too, 
on  the  sloping  terrace  just  behind  the  White  House,  that  the  children  of  Egg-roIling. 
the  city  gather  on  Easter  Monday  to  roll  their  colored  eggs  —  a  pretty 
custom  the  origin  of  which  has  been  quite  forgotten.  Lafayette  Square  ought  also  to 
be  included  as  practically  a  part  of  the  President’s  Grounds. 

Admission  to  certain  parts  of  the  White  House  is  almost  as  free  to  everybody  as  it  is 
to  any  other  of  the  people’s  buildings  in  their  capital.  Coming  from  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  by  the  principal  approach,  along  the  semicircular  carriage  drive  that  leads  up 
from  the  open  gates,  the  visitor  enters  the  stately  vestibule  through  the  front  portico, 
from  whose  middle  upper  window  Lincoln  made  so  many  impromptu 
but  memorable  addresses  during  the  war.  Here  will  be  found  door-  Door¬ 

keepers,  who  direct  callers  upon  the  President  up  the  staircase  to  the  keepers, 
offices,  and  form  visitors,  who  wish  to  see  the  public  rooms  of  the  man¬ 
sion,  into  little  parties,  who  are  conducted  under  their  guidance.  The  first  public 
apartment  visited  is  that  on  the  left  as  you  enter,  occupying  the  eastern  wing  of  the 
building  and  called  the  East  Room. 

This,  which  was  originally  designed  for  a  banquet  hall,  and  so  used  until  1827,  is  now 
the  state  recep¬ 
tion  room.  It  is 
80  feet  in  length, 

40  feet  wide,  and 
22  feet  high,  and 
has  eight  beauti¬ 
ful  marble  man¬ 
tels,  surmounted 
by  tall  mirrors. 

Its  embellish¬ 
ments  are  renewed 
every  eight  or  ten 
years,  reflecting 
the  changing 
fashion  in  decora¬ 
tion;  but  the  crys¬ 
tal  chandeliers, 
which  depend 
from  each  of  the 
three  great  panels 
of  the  ceiling 
(dating,  with  their 
supporting  pillars 
from  Grant’s  time) 
are  never  changed ; 
and  whatever  the 


IN  LINE  ON  A  RECEPTION  DAY.— At  the  White  House. 


94 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


style,  the  profusion  of  gilding  and  mirrors 
gives  a  brilliant  back- 
East  Room,  ground  for  the  gorgeously 
arrayed  assemblages  that 
gather  here  on  state  occasions,  when  the 
hall  is  a  blaze  of  light,  and  a  garden  of  foli¬ 
age  and  flowers  from  the  great  conserva¬ 
tories.  Full-length  portraits  of  George  and 
Martha  Washington  are  conspicuous 
among  the  pictures  on  the  walls.  The 
former  used  to  be  thought  one  painted 
by  Gilbert  Stuart,  but  it  is  now  known 
to  be  the  work  of  an  obscure  English 
artist  who  copied  Stuart’s  style  —  a  “  very 
feeble  imitation  ”  Healy  pronounced  it. 

“  Every  visitor  is  told,”  remarks  Mr. 

E.  V.  Smalley,  who  explained  these  facts 
in  The  Century  Magazine,  “that  Mrs. 

Madison  cut  this  painting  from  out  of 
its  frame  with  a  pair  of  shears,  to  save  it. 
from  the  enemy,  when  she  fled  from  the 
town  [in  1814] ;  but  in  her  own  letters 
describing  the  hasty  flight,  she  says  that 
Mr.  Custis,  the  nephew  of  Washington,  hastened  over  from  Arlington  to  save  the 
precious  portrait,  and  that  a  servant  cut  the  outer  frame  with  an  ax,  so  that  the  canvas 
could  be  removed,  stretched  on  the  inner  frame.” 

The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Martha  Washington  is  a  modern  composition  by  E.  B.  Andrews 
of  Washington.  A  full-length  portrait  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  also  by  Mr.  Andrews,  and 
one  of  Lincoln,  by  Coggeshall,  also  occupy  panels  here. 

The  East  Room  is  open  to  anyone  daily  from  10  to  2,  but  the  other  official  apart¬ 
ments  are  only  visible  by  special  request,  or  when,  at  intervals,  a  custodian  leads  a 
party  through  them. 

Adjoining  the  East  Room  at  its  southern  end,  is  the  Green  Room,  so  named  from 
the  general  color  of  its  decorations  and  furniture,  which  are  traditional.  The  tone  is 
pale  gray  green.  The  ceiling  is  ornamented  with  an  exquisite  design  of 
Green  Room.  musical  instruments  entwined  in  a  garland  with  cherubs  and  flowers,  and 
there  is  a  grand  piano.  There  are  touches  of  gilt  everywhere  upon  the 
ivory-like  woodwork,  and  the  rococo  open-work  in  the  tops  of  the  windows,  from  which 
the  curtains  hang,  is  noticeable.  Here  hang  several  notable  portraits.  One  of  these  is  a 
full-length,  by  Huntington,  President  of  the  National  Academy,  of  IMrs.  Benjamin 
Harrison,  which  was  presented  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  of  whose 
society  she  was  president.  Another  notable  portrait  by  the  same  artist  is  the  full-length 
of  Mrs.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  presented  by  the  Women’s  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
commemorating  Mrs.  Hayes’  courage  in  maintaining  the  cold-water  regime  at  the 
Executive  Mansion.  Three  other  portraits  are  hung  here  by  friends.  One  is  of  Mrs. 
James  K.  Polk;  another,  of  the  second  wife  of  President  Tyler,  and  the  third,  of  the  wife 
of  Major  Van  Buren,  son  of  President  Martin  Van  Buren,  known  in  his  time  as 
“Prince  Harry.” 

Blue  Room.  Next  to  this  is  the  somewhat  larger  (40  by  30  feet)  and  oval  Blue  Room, 
which  bows  outward  in  the  center  of  the  colonnade  of  the  south  front 
of  the  building,  and  whose  decorations  are  in  pale  blue  and  gold.  The  ornaments 


PORTRAIT  OF  WASHINGTON.  —  In  East  Room. 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION 


95 


THE  EAST  ROOM. 


0 

f  'w 

■  V’*] 

^  11 

THE  BLUE  ROOM. 


96 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


are  presents  from  the  French.  The  mantel  clock  was  a  present  from  Napoleon  to 
Lafayette,  and  was  given  by  the  latter  to  the  United  States;  and  the  fine  vases  were 
presented  by  the  President  of  the  French  Republic  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of 
the  Franco-American  cable.  It  is  here  that  the  President  stands  when  holding  recep¬ 
tions,  the  ceremonial  of  which  is  described  elsewhere,  and  here  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  were  married  in  1886. 

The  Red  Room,  west  of  the  Blue  Room,  a  square  room  of  the  same  size  as  the 
Green  Parlor,  has  a  more  home-like  look  than  the  others,  by  reason  of  its  piano, 
mantel  ornaments,  abundant  furniture,  and  pictures,  and  the  fact  that 
Red  Room.  it  is  used  ao  a  reception-room  and  private  parlor  by  the  ladies  of  the 
mansion.  The  prevailing  tone  is  Pompeiian  red,  and  the  walls  are 
covered  with  portraits,  as  follows . 

A  full-length  of  President  Arthur,  by  Daniel  Huntington,  N  A. 

A  full-length  of  Cleveland,  by  Eastman  Johnson. 

A  full-length  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  by  Eastman  Johnson,  1895. 

A  half-length  of  James  A.  Buchanan. 

A  half-length  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  by  Healy. 

A  half-length  of  Zachary  Taylor,  by  Healy. 

A  half-length  of  John  Adams,  by  Healy. 

All  these  rooms  open  upon  the  corridor  running  lengthwise  the  building  and  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  vestibule  by  a  partition  of  glass,  which  President  Arthur  prevailed 
upon  Congress  to  order,  to  replace  an  old  wooden  one.  “The  light  coming  through 
the  partition  of  wrinkled  stained-glass  mosaic  makes  a  marvelously  rich  and  gorgeous 
effect,  falling  upon  the  gilded  niches  where  stand  dwarf  palmetto  trees,  the  silvery 
network  of  the  ceiling,  and  the  sumptuous  furniture.”  In  this  corridor  hang  several 
portraits  of  Presidents,  including  a  full  length  of  Washington,  by  an  Ecuadorian  artist, 


AT  THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 


97 


Cadena  of  Quito,  and  presented  by  him  ;  and  of  Polk,  Garfield  (by  Andrews),  Hayes, 
Fillmore,  Tyler,  Grant  (by  Le  Clair),  and  Jackson  —  one  of  Andrews’  early  efforts. 
Many  of  the  older  ones  are  by  Healy,  who  painted  portraits  of  Presidents  J.  Q.  Adams, 
Tyler,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Taylor,  Fillmore,  Polk,  Pierce,  Buchanan,  Lincoln,  and 
Grant,  Each  President  is  supposed  to  leave  his  portrait  here. 

The  State  Dining-room  is  at  the  south  end  of  this  corridor,  on  the 
left,  in  the  corner  of  the  house.  It  measures  40  by  30  feet,  and  is  in  Dining- 

the  Colonial  style,  the  prevailing  colors  being  a  dull  yellow,  meant  room. 

to  light  up  warmly  under  gaslight. 

“The  ceiling  is  surrounded  with  a  frieze  of  garlands,  about  334  f^et  wide,  with 
medallions  at  intervals.  From  these  wreaths  and  vines  run  to  the  chandeliers.  Beneath 
the  cornice  is  a  heavy  frieze  about  four  feet  in  width,  which  blends  into  the  wall, 
with  garlands  of  native  vines,  leaves,  and  fruits.  .  .  .  The  general  character 

of  the  work  is  known  as  ‘  applique  relief,’  which  is  produced  by  blending  transparent 
colors  on  a  light  ground,  .  .  .  the  effect  being  greatly  increased  by  the  fact 

that  the  various  colors  and  figures  are  ‘edged  up’  in  relief  to  imitate  the  corded 
or  raised  work  in  applique.  .  .  .  State  dinners  are  usually  given  once  or  twice 

a  week  during  the  winter,  and  are  brilliant  affairs.  Lavish  use  is  made  of  plants  and 
flowers  from  the  conservatories,  and  the  table,  laden  with  a  rare  display  of  plate, 
porcelain,  and  cut-glass,  presents  a  beautiful  appearance,  forming  an  effective  setting 
for  the  gay  toilets  of  the  ladies  and  their  glittering  jewels.  The  table  service  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  beautiful,  and  is  adorned  with  various  representations  of  the  flora  and  fauna 
of  America.  The  new  set  of  cut-glass  was  made  at  White  Mills,  Pa.,  and  is  regarded 
as  the  finest  ever  produced  in  this  country.  It  consists  of  520  separate  pieces,  and 
was  especiallj^  ordered  by  the  Government  for  the  White  House.  On  each  piece 
of  the  set,  from  the  mammoth  centerpiece  and  punch  bowl  to  the  tiny  saltcellars, 
is  engraved  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  United  States.  The  execution  of  the  order  occu¬ 
pied  several  months,  and  cost  $6,000.  The  table  can  be  made  to  accommodate  as  many 
as  fifty -four  persons,  but  the  usual  number  of  guests  is  from  thirty  to  forty.” 

The  western  door  of  the  corridor  leads  into  the  conservatory,  which  is  always  in 
flourishing  beauty  ;  and  opposite  the  state  dining-room  is  the  private  or  family  dining¬ 
room,  a  cozy  apartment  looking  out  upon  the  avenue.  The  private  stairway  is  near  its 
door.  A  butler’s  pantry,  a  small  waiting-room  at  the  right  of  the  vestibule,  and  an 
elevator  complete  the  list  of  rooms  on  this  main  floor 

The  basement  is  given  up  entirely  te  the  kitchen,  storerooms,  and  servants’ 
quarters. 

The  business  oflSces  of  the  President  and  his  secretaries  are  on  the  second  floor,  at 
the  eastern  end,  and  are  reached  by  a  stairway  at  the  left  of  the  vestibule.  At  the  head 
of  the  stairway  sits  a  messenger  who  directs  persons  into  the  large  ante¬ 
room,  which  is  in  reality  a  hallway  of  the  house,  and  to  the  door  of  the  President’s 

oflSce  of  the  Secretary  to  the  President,  who  occupies  the  corner  room  Office, 

southeast. 

The  President’s  room  and  Cabinet  room  are  in  the  Executive  office,  west  of  the 
White  House,  which  was  built  in  1902-03. 

Cabinet  The  Executive  Mansion  is  well  guarded.  A  large  force  of  watchmen, 

Room.  including  police  officers,  are  on  duty  inside  the  mansion  at  all  hours,  and 

a  continuous  patrol  is  maintained  by  the  local  police  of  the  grounds 
immediately  surrounding  the  mansion.  As  an  additional  safeguard,  automatic  alarm 
signals  are  fixed  in  different  parts  of  the  house,  and  there  are  telephones  and  telegraphs 
to  the  military  posts,  so  that  a  strong  force  of  police  and  soldiers  could  be  obtained 
almost  at  a  moment’s  notice. 

7 


98 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASIIINGTOX. 


The  inadequacy  of  the  White  House  as  a  residence  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  long  been  recognized.  It  is  crowded,  inconvenient,  and  wholly  unadapted 
to  such  dignity  and  occasions  of  public  ceremony  as  the  nation  demands 
A  New  of  its  chief.  There  is  not  even  accommodation  for  visitors,  so  that  guests 

White  House*  of  the  nation  must  be  sent  to  a  hotel.  Many  suggestions  and  more  or 
less  elaborate  plans  have  been  made  for  a  new  and  proper  President’s 
residence,  which  should  be  entirely  separate  from  the  Executive  offices,  for  which  the 
present  White  House  might  properly  be  reserved.  Most  of  these  proposals  contemplate 
a  magnificent  edifice  on  Meridian  Hill,  200  feet  in  elevation,  at  the  head  of  Sixteenth 
Street.  One  such  proposition,  designed  by  Mary  Henderson  Foote  and  Paul  J.  Pelz,  is 
illustrated  herewith.  It  proposes  a  building  in  an  ornate  American  adaptation  of  the 
Roman  classic  style  of  architecture,  and  constructed  of  white  marble,  with  grand 
approaches.  ^  The  west  wing  would  be  devoted  to  the  home  of  the  President’s  family, 
and  the  east  wing  to  suitable  accommodation  for  the  nation’s  guests;  while  the  central 
part,  and  the  ground  floor  of  the  east  wing,  extended  by  elaborate  conservatories,  would 
be  devoted  to  a  series  of  state  apartments,  in  which  grand  ceremonies  and  entertainments 
might  be  adequately  arranged  and  carried  out. 


VII. 

THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPAETMENTS. 


The  Executive  Departments  are  those  over  which  the  Cabinet  officers  preside,  and  in 
which  the  daily  administration  of  the  Government  is  carried  on.  There  have  not 
always  been  so  many,  nor  have  they  always  been  known  by  their  present  names  ;  and  it 
is  only  recently,  under  the  law  of  1886,  prescribing  the  order  of  succession  to  the 
Presidency,  that  any  authoritative  sequence  could  be  observed  in  the  list,  which  is  now 
as  follows: 

The  Department  of  State,  presided  over  by  the  Honorable  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  Treasury  Department,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  War  Department,  the  Secretary  of  War.  List  of 

The  Department  of  Justice,  the  Attorney-General.  Departments. 

The  Post  Office  Department,  the  Postmaster-General. 

The  Navy  Department,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

All  these  are  situated  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  Executive  Mansion 
except  those  of  the  Post  Office,  Interior,  and  Agriculture. 

The  Departments  are  the  business  offices  of  the  Government,  and  ‘  ‘politics”  has  much 
less  to  do  with  their  practical  conduct  than  the  popular  clamor  would  lead  one  to  sup¬ 
pose.  The  occasional  shirk  or  blatherskite  makes  himself  noticed,  but  the  average 
employe,  from  head  to  foot  of  the  list,  faithfully  attends  to  his  business  and  does 
his  work.  This  must  be  so,  or  the  business  of  the  nation  could  not  be  carried  on  ;  and 
otherwise,  men  and  women  would  not  grow  gray  in  its  service,  as  they  are  doing, 
because  their  fidelity  and  skill  can  not  be  spared  so  long  as  their  strength  holds  out. 
Year  by  year,  with  the  growth  of  intelligence  and  the  extension  of  the  civil  service  idea 
and  practice,  “politics”  has  less  and  less  to  do  with  the  practical  administration  of  the 
business  of  the  nation  at  its  capital ;  and  year  by  year,  better  and  more  economical 
methods  and  results  are  achieved.  No  civil  pensions  have  yet  been  established  as  the 
further  reward  of  long  and  faithful  service. 

The  Department  of  State  stands  first  on  the  list,  and  occupies  the  south  and  noblest 
front  of  the  State,  War,  and  Navy  Building  —  that  towering  pile  of  granite  west  of  the 
White  House,  which  has  been  so  honestly  admired  by  the  populace  and 
so  often  condemned  by  critics.  The  architect  was  A.  B.  Mullet,  who  had  Department 
a  great  fondness  for  the  “Italian  renaissance,”  as  is  shown  by  the  post  of  State, 
offices  of  New  York  and  Boston,  and  by  other  public  edifices  executed 
while  he  was  supervising  architect  of  the  Treasury.  This  building  is  471  feet  long  by 
253  feet  wide,  and  surrounds  a  paved  courtyard  containing  engine-houses,  etc.  It  is 
built,  outwardly,  of  gran'te  from  Viiginia  and  Maine,  and  the  four  facades  are  substan¬ 
tially  alike,  though  the  south  front,  where  space  and  slope  of  the  ground  favors,  has  a 
grander  entrance  than  the  other  sides.  The  building  was  begun  in  1871  and  not  wholly 
finished  until  1893,  covers  four  and  a  half  acres,  contains  two  miles  of  corridors,  and 
cost  $10,700,000.  It  is  in  charge  of  a  superintendent,  responsible  to  a  commission  com¬ 
posed  of  the  three  Secretaries  occupying  it. 


99 


100 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


All  of  the  apartments  of  the  “foreign  office”  are  elegant,  and  one  fancies  he  sees  a 
greater  formality  and  dignity,  as  certainly  there  is  more  of  studious  quiet,  here  than  in 
any  other  department.  The  Secretary  and  assistant  secretaries  occupy  a 
foreign  line  of  handsome  offices  in  the  second  story,  looking  southward  across 

Office.  the  park,  among  which  is  the  long  and  stately  room  assigned  to  confer¬ 

ences  with  representatives  of  foreign  governments,  or  similar  meetings, 
and  hence  called  the  Diplomatic  Room.  An  opportunity  to  inspect  this  should  be 
accepted,  if  only  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  likenesses  of  the  past  Secretaries  of  State,  with 
which  its  walls  are  almost  covered.  All  of  these  portraits  are  by  men  of  talent,  and 
some  are  of  superior  merit :  That  of  Clay,  by  E.  D.  Marchant,  and  those  of  Fish  and 
Frelinghuysen,  by  Huntington,  are  especially  praised.  Lord  Ashburton  is  here  also, 
beside  Webster  —  his  great  coadjutor  in  the  adjudication  of  the  boundary  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  This  room,  the  furniture,  rugs,  and  hangings  of  which  are 
dark  and  elegant,  is  said  to  have  been  arranged  by  Secretary  Hamilton  Fish.  Near  by 
is  another  elegant  apartment  —  the  Diplomatic  Ante-room,  where  foreign  dignitaries 
await  audience  with  the  premier. 

The  show  room  of  the  department,  however,  is  the  library,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
several  curious  objects  formerly  exhibited  there  are  no  longer  on  view. 

The  precious  original  drafts  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  were  disintegrating  and  fading  under  exposure  to  the  light,  and  have  been  shut  up 
in  a  steel  safe,  after  having  been  hermetically  sealed  between  plates  of 
“State”  glass,  which  arrangement,  it  is  hoped,  will  stop  their  decay.  A  precise 

Library  facsimile  of  the  Declaration,  made  about  1820,  hangs  upon  the  library 

and  Relics.  wall.  The  Great  Seal  and  certain  curious  early  treaties  of  oriental  and 
barbarous  states  are  no  longer  exhibited.  Here  may  be  seen,  however, 
the  war  sword  of  Washington  —  the  identical  weapon  he  was  accustomed  to  wear  in 
camp  and  campaign  ;  and  the  sword  of  Jackson,  at  New  Orleans  —  broken,  to  be  sure, 
but  mended  by  a  skillful  armorer,  and  not  by  himself  at  a  blacksmith’s  forge,  as  the  old 
story  relates.  Jefferson’s  writing-desk  (at  which,  tradition  says,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  drafted),  Franklin’s  staff  and  buttons  from  his  court  dress,  a  lor¬ 
gnette  given  by  Washington  to  Lafayette,  a  copy  of  the  Pekin  Gazette,  which  has  been 
orinted  continuously,  as  a  daily  newspaper,  since  the  eighth  century,  and  several  other 
personal  relics  and  historical  curiosities  will  reward  the  visitor. 

The  library  itself  is  a  very  notable  one,  equal  to  those  of  the  governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  in  importance  as  a  collection  of  books  of  international  law  and 
diplomacy.  Cognate  works,  such  as  biographies,  histories,  and  travels  of  a  certain  sort, 
supplement  this  central  collection,  and  the  whole  now  includes  some  60,000  volumes. 
Its  purpose  is  to  serve  as  a  reference  library  for  the  department.  It  also  includes  a 
great  quantity  of  the  papers  of  public  men  of  the  past,  which  have  been  acquired  by 
purchase  or  otherwise,  and  are  distinct  from  the  correspondence  archives  of  the  depart¬ 
ment.  For  the  papers  of  Washington  (bound  into  336  volumes)  $45,000  was  paid  in 
1834  and  1849  ;  for  the  Madison  papers  (75  vols.,  1848)  $25,000  ;  for  the  Jefferson  MSS. 
(137  vols.,  1848)  $20,000;  and  for  the  Monroe  papers  (22  vols.,  1849)  $20,000.  ]\Iore 
recently  have  been  acquired  the  papers  of  Hamilton  (65  vols.),  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
(32  vols.,  $35,000),  and  extensive  records  of  the  Revolutionary  army. 

The  War  Department  has  quarters  in  the  same  great  building,  occupying  the  west¬ 
ern  and  part  of  the  northern  front,  as  is  indicated  by  the  cannons  lying  upon  the  but¬ 
tresses  of  the  porches.  The  Secretary  and  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
War  Office,  the  General  of  the  army,  and  several  military  bureaus  have  their  offices 
there,  but  none  of  them  are  open,  of  course,  to  the  casual  visitor.  At 
the  head  of  the  staircase,  near  the  northwestern  corner,  are  models  of  certain  arms  and 


DEPARTMENTS  OF  STATE,  WAR,  AND  NAVY.— Seventeenth  Street,  between  New  York  Avenue  and  G  Street, 


102 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


ordnance,  and  of  wagons,  ambulances,  etc.,  and  also  two  showcases  of  life-size  lay  fig¬ 
ures  exhibiting  the  uniforms  of  various  ranks  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  The  wall  of 
the  staircase  is  embellished  with  portraits  of  past  Secretaries,  and  in  the  corridor  and 
ante-rooms  of  the  Secretary’s  office  are  other  paintings,  including  grand  portraits  of 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  by  Daniel  C.  Huntington.  The  Washington  portrait 
here  is  one  of  Stuart’s  copies  from  his  original  study. 

The  old  Winder  building,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Seventeenth  Street,  erected  many 
years  ago  by  Gen.  Wm.  H.  Winder,  an  army  officer  who  distinguished  himself  in  the 
early  part  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  commanded  the  troops  here  in  1814,  was  intended 
for  a  hotel.  It  was  taken  for  offices  of  the  War  Department,  however,  and  has  been  so 
occupied  ever  since.  In  it  General  Halleck  had  his  office  and  the  staff  headquarters  of 
the  army  during  the  Civil  War,  Secretary  Stanton’s  office  being  in  the  building  demol¬ 
ished  to  make  room  for  the  present  structure. 

General  Grant’s  Headcjuarters,  when,  after  the  war,  he  lived  in 
Grant’s  Washington  in  command  of  the  army,  were  in  the  large  house  with  the 

Head-  high  stoop  on  the  opposite  or  southeast  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  F 

Quarters.  streets.  It  is  now  a  private  residence.  McClellan’s  headquarters  during 

the  early  half  of  the  war  were  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Lafayette 
Square,  now  the  Cosmos  clubhouse. 

The  Navy  Department  has  possession  of  the  remaining  third  of  the  building,  with  an 
entrance  facing  the  White  House,  signified  by  anchors  upon  the  portico.  The  Secretary 
and  Assistant  Secretary  preside  over  ten  bureaus,  whose  chiefs  are  detailed  officers  of 
the  navy.  These  are  : 

1.  Bureau  of  Navigation,  having  the  practical  control  of  the  ships  and  men  in  actual 
service,  and  including  the  Hydrographic  Office  and  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  but 
not  the  War  College  at  Newport.  2.  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks.  3. 
Bureaus  of  Bureau  of  Equipment,  which  has  charge,  among  other  things,  of  the 

the  Navy.  Naval  Observatory,  the  Nautical  Almanac,  and  the  Compass  Office. 

4.  Bureau  of  Ordnance.  5.  Bureau  of  Construction  and  Repair.  C. 
Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering.  7.  Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  under  whose 
supervision  is  maintained  a  Museum  of  Hygiene,  in  the  Old  Naval  Observatory,  which 
is  interesting  to  specialists.  8.  Bureau  of  Supplies  and  Accounts  (but  the  Navy  Pay 
Office  is  at  No.  1729  New  York  Avenue).  9.  Office  of  the  Judge  Advocate  General  — 
the  department’s  law  officer.  10.  Office  of  the  Commandant  of  the  Marine  Corps,  who 
is  responsible  directly  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  By  the  time  a  ship  is  built, 
equipped,  armed,  and  manned,  she  has  gone  through  every  one  of  these  bureaus,  and 
must  have  had  a  good  pilot  if  she  escaped  being  dashed  to  pieces  against  some  of  their 
regulations,  or  crushed  by  collision  of  authority  between  their  chiefs. 

The  models  of  ships,  on  view  in  the  corridor  near  the  entrance  and  on  the  next  floor 
above,  form  an  exhibit  of  great  interest,  graphically  displaying  the  difference  between 
the  early  wooden  frigates  and  line-of-battle  ships  and  the  modern  steel 
I^odels.  cruisers  and  turreted  men-of-war.  These  models  ought  not  to  be  over¬ 

looked  ;  the  library,  also,  is  well  worth  attention,  on  account  of  the  por¬ 
traits  of  departed  Secretaries,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  its  professional  books. 

The  financial  department  and  the  actual  treasury  of  the  Government  are  housed  in  the 
imposing  but  somewhat  gloomy  building  which  closes  the  vista  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
from  the  Capitol,  and  which  nearly  adjoins  the  White  House  park  on  the 
Treasury  east.  This  structure,  which,  suitably  to  the  alleged  American  worship 

Building.  of  money,  has  been  given  the  form  of  a  pagan  temple,  is  of  the  lonic- 

Greek  order  of  architecture  modified  to  suit  local  requirements.  The 
main  building,  with,  its  long  pillaged  ^ront  on  Fi^teenlh  Street,  was  erected  of  Virginia 


J**' 


jg-^ -rf*. 


104 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


sandstone,  after  plans  by  Robert  Mills,  and  completed  in  1841.  Some  years  later  exten¬ 
sions  were  undertaken  under  the  architectural  direction  of  Thomas  U.  Walter,  which 
enlarged  the  building  greatly,  produced  the  magnificent  granite  porticos  at  each  end, 
and  resulted  in  the  beautifully  designed  western  facade.  The  whole  building,  completed 
in  1869,  is  466  feet  long  and  264  wide  exclusive  of  the  porticos,  incloses  two  courts,  and 
has  cost  about  $10,000,000. 

The  Treasury  is  a  place  every  stranger  visits.  The  building  is  open  from  9  till 
2  ;  and  between  11  and  12  and  1  and  2  o’clock,  persons  who  assemble  at  the  office  of 
the  Treasurer  are  formed  into  parties,  and  conducted  to  the  doors  of  certain  rooms,  where 
the  guides  volubly  explain  the  work  in  progress  there. 

Thus  you  may  see  the  girls  counting  and  recounting  the  sheets  of  specially  made  paper 
upon  which  all  the  United  States  bonds,  notes,  and  revenue  stamps  are  printed  ;  this  is 
the  beginning  of  the  long  routine  of  “  money  making,”  and  not  one  must 
Paper  for  go  unaccounted  for.  This  paper  is  made  of  components  and  by  a  com- 

Securities.  position  which  is  a  secret  between  the  Government  and  the  manufac¬ 

turers  at  Dalton,  near  Pittsfield,  Mass.  It  is  especially  distinguished  by 
the  silk  fibers  interwoven  with  its  texture,  and,  as  a  part  of  the  monopoly  of  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  United  States  money  retained  by  the  Federal  Government,  the  possession 
of  any  such  paper  by  private  persons  is  prohibited  under  severe  penalties,  prima  facie 
evidence  of  intent  to  defraud.  The  packages  of  1,000  sheets,  each  of  the  proper  size  for 
printing  four  notes,  are  deftly  counted  and  carefully  examined  by  young  women,  whom 
long  practice  has  made  wonderfully  expert.  When  every  imperfect  sheet  has  been  picked 
out  and  replaced  by  a  good  one,  the  packages  are  sent  to  the  printer  (see  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing). 

Next  you  may  be  shown  the  large  room  to  which  piles  of  similar  sheets,  printed  with 
the  faces  and  backs  of  notes  of  various  denominations  from  $1  to  $1,000,  have  been 
returned,  to  receive  here,  upon  small  steam  presses,  the  red  seal,  which 
Treasury  completes  the  value  of  the  paper  as  a  promise  to  pay. 

Notes.  These  notes,  to  the  amount  of  about  $1,000,000  in  value,  on  the  average, 

are  brought  over  from  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  each  morn¬ 
ing,  being  conveyed  in  a  steel-encased  wagon,  guarded  by  armed  messengers.  They  are 
first  counted  by  three  persons  in  succession,  to  reduce  to  the  vanishing  point  the  proba¬ 
bility  of  error,  and  then  are  sent  to  the  sealing-room  mentioned  above,  where  the  sheets 
of  four  unseparated  notes  are  passed  through  the  small  steam  presses  that  place  upon 
them  the  red  seal  of  the  Treasury  of  North  America,  or,  as  it  is  written  in  abbreviated 
Latin  upon  the  seal  itself  :  Tliesaur.  Amer.  Septent.  Sigil. 

United  States  Treasury  notes  bear  the  engraved  facsimiles  of  the  signatures  of  the 
United  States  Treasurer  and  the  Register  of  the  Treasury;  but  national  bank  notes  are 
actually  signed  in  ink  by  the  president  and  cashier  of  the  bank  issuing  them.  The  latter 
are  sent  to  the  banks  and  receive  these  signatures  before  receiving  the  red  seal,  for 
which  purpose  they  must  be  returned  here,  the  banks  defraying  the  express  charges. 

It  is  in  the  room  adjoining  this  that  the  visitor  sees  that  marvelous  development  of 
the  human  hand  and  eye  which  enables  the  ladies  intrusted  with  the  final  counting  of 
Uncle  Sam’s  paper  money  to  do  so  with  a  rapidity  that  is  absolutely 
Cuttings  the  bewildering  to  the  beholder.  As  soon  as  the  seals  have  been  printed  upon 

Sheets.  a  package  of  1,000  sheets  of  notes,  these  are  taken  to  another  little 

macl'iue,  which  slices  them  apart,  replacing  the  hand  shears,  to  whose 
use,  in  General  Spinner’s  day,  according  to  tradition,  is  due  the  introduction  of  female 
assistance  in  the  departmental  service.  This  produces  4,000  notes  which  are  tied  up 
into  a  standard  “  package,”  and  laid  upon  the  table  of  the  first  clerk  to  whom  thej’’  go 
for  final  inspection  and  counting.  Untying  a  package  and  holding  it  by  her  left  hand. 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS. 


105 


with  the  face  of  the  notes  upward,  she  lifts  the  right-hand  end  of  every  one  of  the  4,000 
notes,  scans  it  for  imperfections  in  texture,  printing,  sealing,  or  cutting,  sees  that  it  is 
numbered  in  due  order,  and  that  none  is  missing. 

That  all  this  can  be  done,  and  done  day  after  day  and  month  after  month,  with 
unwearied  vigilance,  discernment,  and  accuracy,  is  sufficiently  extraordinary — since 
habitual  application  to  routine  work  is  likely  to  breed  not  only  careless¬ 
ness,  but  a  sort  of  mental  blindness  ;  but  when  to  this  is  added  a  speed  so  Expert 

extraordinary  that  a  counter  passes  on  the  average  32,000  notes  each  work-  Counting, 

ing-day,  the  performance  becomes  one  of  the  most  wonderful  in  the  range 
of  human  industry.  It  would  seem  that  the  eye  could  scarcely  form  an  image  in  the 
brain  of  any  single  note  as  it  flies  through  the  Angers,  yet  so  trained  and  sensitive  have 
these  women  becotne,  that  the  slightest  irregularity  of  form  or  color  is  noted,  and  each 
imperfect  note  is  rejected,  destroyed,  and  replaced  by  a  perfect  one  from  a  reserve 
supply. 

The  rapid  counting  is  facilitated  —  only  made  possible,  in  truth  —  by  the  fact  that 
the  notes,  as  they  fall  from  the  cutting  machine,  lie  in  exact  rotation  of  numbers  (in  the 
upper  right-hand  corner),  so  that  the  counter  need  only  take  cognizance  of  the  flnal  unit, 
sure  that  as  long  as  these  run  continuously  there  is  no  mistake.  Having  observed,  for 
example,  that  her  package  began  87,654,320,  that  the  units  were  repeated  continuously 
in  order,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  1,  2,  3,  4,  etc.,  and  the  package  ended  87,658,320,  the 
counter  could  be  sure  it  was  full  and  regular.  To  guard  against  any  possible  mistake, 
however,  these  packages  go  through  the  hands  of  five  successive  counters  before  the 
last  of  the  flfty-two  countings  to  which  the  sheets  and  notes  are  subjected  is  concluded, 
and  the  notes  are  ready  for  issue.  Each  person  to  whom  the  packages  are  temporarily 
intrusted  is  obliged  to  receipt  for  them,  so  that  their  history  may  be  traced  from  the 
paper  mills  to  the  cashier’s  desk. 

Each  package,  as  it  comes  from  the  last  counter,  contains  4,000  notes  ;  but  as  these  may 
vary  from  $1  to  $1,000  in  denomination,  the  value  of  the  package  may  be  $4,000,  $8,000, 
$20,000,  $40,000,  $80,000,  $400,000,  or  $4,000,000.  Each  package  is  now  wrapped  in 
brown  paper,  sealed  with  wax  impressed  with  the  Treasury  seal,  and  placed  in  the 
currency  reserve  vault  of  the  cashier  of  the  department  of  issue  ;  and  the  amount 
receipted  for  by  the  keeper  of  the  vault  (averaging  $1,000,000  a  day)  must  correspond 
each  evening  exactly  with  the  amount  received  the  same  morning  from  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing. 

These  pretty  notes,  the  representatives  of  the  hard  cash  stored  in  the  vaults,  reach  the 
public  only  through  the  Cash  Room,  a  large  apartment  on  the  main  floor,  walled  with  a 
great  variety  of  exquisite  native  and  foreign  marbles,  and  provided  with 
a  public  gallery,  whence  all  its  operations  may  be  overlooked ;  but  vis-  Cash  RoOdl. 
itors  ought  to  keep  very  quiet.  Here  tightly  bound  packages  of  notes  of 
a  single  denomination,  each  containing  4,000  bills,  are  prepared  for  shipment  to  the  sub¬ 
treasuries  and  other  flnancial  agents  of  the  Government,  or,  with  the  loose  cash  needed, 
are  paid  out  over  the  counter.  The  business  is  that  of  an  ordinary  bank,  or,  rather,  of 
an  extraordinary  one,  for  checks  of  enormous  value  are  frequently  cashed  here  —  one 
reaching  as  high  as  $10,000,000. 

When  the  various  legal-tender  notes  (greenbacks,  silver  certificates,  treasury  notes,  or 
gold  certificates)  are  sent  in  for  redemption,  they  go  into  the  redemption  division,  where 
they  are  counted  and  sorted  into  packages  —  again  by  the  quick  fingers 
of  women.  These  packages  are  then  irretrievably  mutilated  by  punches.  Redemption 
sliced  lengthwise,  and  each  half  is  counted  separately  by  other  clerks.  Office. 

If  all  proves  to  be  right  (an  error  is  quickly  traceable),  a  receipt  is  given, 
enabling  the  cashier  to  give  back  new  notes  in  exchange  ^or  the  old  ones,  or  reissue  to 


106 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


the  public  in  coin,  an  amount  equal  to  what  has  been  presented  that  day  for  redemption. 
Sometimes  the  mere  fragments,  or  soaked  or  charred  remains,  of  bank  notes  are  sent  in, 
but  if  the  evidence  of  good  faith  satisfies  the  chief,  and  the  amount  can  be  verified, 
crisp,  new  notes  are  sent  to  the  owner  in  return. 

This  opens  a  door  for  fraud,  which  rascals  have  tried  to  enter,  but  they  have  rarely 
succeeded.  In  the  office  of  the  present  United  States  Treasurer,  alongside  his  little 
receipt  to  his  predecessor  for  $750,000,000,  or  thereabouts,  the  amount  taken  into  custody 
by  him,  may  be  seen,  framed,  what  purports  to  be  a  $500  bill,  made  up  of  sixteen  pieces 
cut  from  various  parts  of  sixteen  other  genuine  $500  bills  which  had  been  sent  in  and 
redeemed  as  “mutilated.”  These  reserved  fragments,  combined,  made  a  seventeenth 
bill,  which  perhaps  might  have  been  accepted  also,  had  it  been  less  clumsilj''  fabricated. 

Finally,  the  old  bills,  punched  and  cut  in  two  (see  above),  are  sent  to  carefully 
guarded  maceraters  —  one  in  the  Treasury  Building  for  the  destruction  of  the  old 
national  bank  notes,  and  another  for  the  destruction  of  United  States  notes,  at  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing ;  there  they  are  ground  into  wet  pulp  by  means  of 
machines  called  maceraters. 


CURRENCY  DESTRUCTION  COMMITTEE. 

The  maceraters  are  globe-shaped  receptacles  of  steel,  having  the  capacity  of  a  ton  of 
pulp,  the  top  of  which  opens  by  a  lid  secured  by  three  different  Yale  locks.  The  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Treasury  has  the  key  of  one  lock,  the  Treasurer  that  of 
Maceration,  another,  and  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  the  third.  Each  day  at 
1  p.  M. ,  these  officials  or  their  representatives,  with  a  fourth  agent  to  rep¬ 
resent  the  people  and  banks,  open  the  macerater,  and  place  within  it  the  million  dollars 
or  so  of  condemned  currency  or  other  securities  which  is  to  be  destroyed,  together  with  a 
suitable  quantity  of  water.  The  lid  is  then  locked  in  the  three  places,  and  machinery 
begins  to  whirl  around  inside  of  the  macerater  a  series  of  150  knives  which  grind  and 
cut  the  soaking  material  until  the  notes  are  reduced  to  shreds  and  useless  pulp.  Once 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS. 


107 


in  four  or  five  days  the  committee  unlocks  a  valve  and  lets  the  accumulated  pulp  run 
out  into  screening  receptacles.  It  is  thence  taken  to  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing,  where  it  is  rolled  and  dried  into  thick  sheets  and  sold.  Samples  of  it,  now 
and  then,  are  disposed  of  to  be  made  into  the  queer  little  figures  sold  as  curiosities  and 
“supposed  to  contain”  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  or  so. 

On  one  of  the  upper  floors  the  Life-saving  Service  has  a  series  of  models  and 
specimens  of  the  apparatus  used  in  saving  the  lives  of  shipwrecked  marines,  which  can 
usually  be  seen ;  in  the  office  of  the  Supervising  Architect  are  many 
“  highly  executed  drawings  of  elevations  and  plans  of  the  public  build-  Branches  Of 
ings  erected  by  the  United  States,  interesting  to  architects  and  civil  the  Treasury, 
engineers;”  the  Department  library  has  20,000  volumes,  and  is  open 
to  visitors;  and,  lastly,  a  proper  introduction  will  enable  the  visitor  who  is  curious  in 
criminal  matters  to  inspect  the  rogues’  gallery  and  police  museum  of  the  Secret  Service, 
which  deals  with  counterfeiters,  smugglers,  “moonshiners”  or  illicit  distillers. 

The  Department  of  Justice  and  the  Court  of  Claims,  which  attend  to  suits  against 
the  Government,  and  give  legal  advice  to  its  officers,  occupy  rented  quarters,  having 
no  building  of  their  own.  The  former  is  on  K  Street,  between  Vermont 
Avenue  and  Fifteenth  Street,  where  the  Attorney-General  has  his  office.  JustiCC. 

The  Court  of  Claims  occupies  the  old  Corcoran  Gallery  at  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  and  Seventeenth  Street. 

The  General  Post  Office  began  in  a  postal  system  organized  in  the  American  colonies 
as  early  as  1692  by  patent  to  Thomas  Neale.  This  expired  in  1710,  when  the  English 
postal  system  was  extended  to  the  colonies,  and  it  slowly  grew  until,  in  1753,  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  appointed  Deputy  Postmaster- General  for  the  Colonies.  The  Revolution 
overthrew  the  royal  mail,  but  when  peace  came  the  Continental  Congress  established 
a  new  system,  and  put  Franklin  again  in  charge  of  the  first  United  States  mails.  Postage 
stamps  were  not  adopted  by  the  Government  until  1847,  and  until  lately  were  printed  by 
private  contractors,  but  are  now  made  at  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing.  The 
first  building  for  this  department  was  burned  in  1836.  The  next  one,  occupied  for 
many  years  until  the  end  of  the  century,  was  the  Corinthian  structure  on  Seventh  Street, 
next  the  Patent  Office,  now  a  part  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 

The  present  Post  OflSce  is  a  modern  structure  on  the  south  side  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  between  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  streets,  which  contains  both  the  General 
Department  and  the  City  Post  Office. 

This  building  was  authorized  by  Congress  in  1890,  and  the  site  was  Post  Office, 
purchased  in  1891  at  a  cost  of  $650,000.  The  designs  were  made  in  the 
office  of  the  Supervising  Architect  of  the  Treasury,  and  executed  under  its  direction  to 
the  completion  eff  the  building  in  1899.  In  style  it  is  modified  Romanesque,  surmounted 
by  a  lofty,  square  clock  tower.  The  principal  material  is  granite  from  Fox  Island, 
Maine,  with  steel  columns  and  beams  for  the  interior  framework.  The  finish  is  in 
marble  from  Tennessee  and  Vermont,  varied  by  Red  African  and  mottled  Italian 
marbles,  with  quartered  oak  and  mahogany  for  the  woodwork.  The  building  measures 
305  feet  long  by  200  feet  wide,  and  encloses  a  court,  roofed  over  by  a  skylight  180  feet 
long  by  99  feet  wide.  An  interior  skylight  covers  the  court  at  the  height  of  the  first 
story,  forming  an  immense  room  for  the  accommodation  of  the  City  Post  Office.  The 
total  cost  of  the  whole  building  was  $3,325,000. 

The  nine  upper  floors  are  devoted  to  the  business  of  the  Postmaster-General  and 
his  department.  These  are  open  to  the  public  from  9  a.  m.  until  2  p.  m.,  Letter 

but  contain  nothing  of  interest  except  the  museum  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office 

OflQce,  which  occupies  Room  223  on  the  first  floor  above  the  street  — 

Twelfth  Street  side — and  is  open  daily  from  9  a.  m.  to  4  p.  m.  This  is  the  bureau  of  the 


108 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


I^useum  of 
Dead  Letter 
Office. 


department  which  receives  and  handles  all  mail  that  can  not  be  delivered  to  its  intended 
recipients,  by  reason  of  lack  of  superscription,  or  improper  or  undecipherable  addressing, 
or  because  not  called  for  within  a  reasonable  time.  Six  or  seven  million  pieces  of  lost 
mail  are  thus  returned  to  this  office  annually,  and  examined.  If  any  clew  to  the  writer, 
or  owner,  or  addressee  can  be  found,  the  kdter  or  package  is  at  once  sent  to  one  or  the 
other  of  these  persons.  Newspapers  are  destroyed.  Unidentified  packages  containing 
any  article  of  value  are  recorded  and  laid  aside  for  six  months,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  they  are  sold  at  auction,  and  the  money  received  is  turned  into  the  Treasury. 

The  Museum  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office  is  a  collection  of  the  extraordinary  objects 
sent  through  the  mails,  and  also  of  objects  and  papers  identified  with  the  postal  his¬ 
tory  of  the  country.  The  most  striking  exhibit,  perhaps,  is  a  great 
collection  of  uncanceled  postage  stamps  of  foreign  countries,  includ¬ 
ing  stamped  envelopes  and  post-cards,  which  have  been  sent  to  the 
American  Post  Office  Department  by  foreign  postal  authorities.  They 
are  elegantly  arranged  in  swinging  frames,  the  various  sets  embellished 
by  artistic  borders  and  other  ornaments.  There  are  also  complete  sets  of  American 
stamps,  and  philatelists  will  view  these  collections  with  extreme  interest,  and  estimate 
them  at  a  very  high  money  value.  Other  swinging  frames  contain  pictures  of  the 
finest  post  offices  in  this  country  and  abroad.  More  curious  is  a  large  series  of  small, 
life-like  models  showing  the  dress  and  accouterments  of  postmen  in  India,  China, 
Persia,  Japan,  and  other  far  Eastern  countries.  A  series  of  the  various  locks  and 
keys  used  for  mail  bags  is  shown ;  also  the  evolution  of  canceling  stamps.  Early 
records  of  the  Post  Office  fill  one  case,  among  them  a  set  of  accounts  kept  by  Benja¬ 
min  Franklin  while  Colonial  Postmaster- General  in  1753 ;  also,  in  his  handwriting, 
the  earliest  record  of  the  Dead  Letter  Office,  date  1778.  The  stuffed  skin  of  “  Owney,” 
the  nondescript,  shaggy  dog  who  for  several  years  spent  his  time  traveling  all  over 
this  and  other  countries  in  postal  cars,  or  loitering  about  post  offices,  is  preserved  in  one 
case  ;  it  was  the  fashion  to  give  him  a  “medal,”  in  the  form  of  a  baggage  check  or  some 
similar  ornament,  wherever  he  went,  and  all  these  are  hung  about  his  body. 

The  most  extraordinary  part  of  the  little  museum,  however,  consists  of  the  miscel¬ 
laneous  objects  that  have  been  lost  in  the  mails,  the  variety  of  which  is  endless. 

and  many  of  which  are  so  odd  as  to  provoke  laughter.  All  sorts 
of  small  animals,  stuffed,  dried,  in  alcohol,  and  otherwise  preserved, 
are  here  ;  a  human  skull  and  many  bones ;  surgical  instruments  and 
medicines  in  abundance,  besides  a  great  array  of  pistols,  knives,  and 
other  death-dealing  implements.  Books  have  been  gathered  by  thou¬ 
sands,  and  some  of  those  saved  for  show  here  include  valuable  volumes  in  many 
foreign  languages,  including  Arabic,  Chinese,  and  the  raised  text  for  the  blind.  Dolls 
and  toys  enough  to  furnish  half  a  dozen  kindergartens  might  be  taken  from  here, 
and,  in  short,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  path  of  industry  or  a  region  of  pleasure 
or  profit  of  which  some  reminder  might  not  be  found  among  this  queer  conglomer¬ 
ation  of  lost  property. 

The  City  Post  Office  is  open  to  the  public  at  all  hours  of  the  day  or 
City  night ;  and  its  furnishings  embody  the  latest  improvements  in  postal 

Post  Office,  methods.  An  Information  Office  is  open  during  the  day  in  the  north¬ 
west  corner  of  the  ground  floor. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior,  whose  principal  building  is  popularly  known  as  the 
Patent  Office,  manages  internal  or  domestic  affairs  —  the  relations  of  our  own  people 
with  the  Government.  Hence  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  charged 
Interior  with  the  supervision  of  public  business  relating  to  patents  for  inventions. 

Department,  pensions,  and  bounty  lands,  the  public  lands  and  surveys,  the  Indians, 


Queer 

Things  Lost 
in  the  Mails. 


NEW  GENERAL  POST  OFFICE. — Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Streets 


110 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


education,  railroads,  the  geological  survey,  the  census,  the  national  parks,  reservations, 
and  various  of  the  public  institutions,  and  Territories. 

The  Secretary  and  his  assistants  have  their  offices  in  the  great  Doric- 
Patent  Greek  building,  covering  the  two  squares  reaching  from  Seventh  to  Ninth 

Office.  streets,  between  F  and  G,  which  everybody  calls  the  Patent  Office, 

because  designed  for  and  mainly  occupied  by  that  bureau. 

The  Hall  of  Models  is  still  a  spacious  room  on  the  main  floor,  but  the  removal  of  the 
historical  relics  to  the  National  Museum,  and  the  fire  of  1877,  which  destroyed  87,000 
models  and  some  600,000  drawings,  etc.,  have  left  little  worth  looking  at.  The  office 
has  issued  thus  far  about  900,000  patents,  and  its  earnings  have  been  far  in  excess  of 
the  cost  of  buildings  and  all  expenses  since  its  origin. 

Another  prominent  branch  of  the  Interior  Department  is  the  Pension  Bureau.  This 
occupies  an  immense  red-brick  building,  400  by  200  feet  in  dimensions  and  four  stories 
high,  standing  in  Judiciary  Square,  on  G  Street,  between  Fourth  and 
Pension  Fifth,  and  looking  like  a  cotton  factory  without  and  a  prison  within.  It 

Office.  has  two  gable  roofs  set  crosswise  and  largely  composed  of  glass,  lighting 

the  vast  interior  court.  The  structure  is  said  to  be  fireproof  —  a  state¬ 
ment  which  caused  General  Sheridan  to  exclaim,  “What  a  pity!”  A  band  of  terra 
cotta,  forming  an  ornamental  frieze  around  the  exterior  of  the  building,  just  above  the 
first  story  windows,  portrays  a  procession  of  spirited  marching  figures  of  soldiers  of 
the  late  war  —  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons.  This  is  the  only  artistic  thing  about  the 
building,  and  is  worthy  of  a  better  setting.  The  offices,  however,  are  more  commodi¬ 
ous  and  comfortable  than  many  in  more  ornate  edifices,  and  open  upon  tiers  of  galleries 
that  surround  all  sides  of  a  great  tiled  court.  This  court  is  broken  by  two  cross-rows 
of  colossal  columns  and  lofty  arches  sustaining  the  central  part  of  the  roof  and  painted 
in  imitation  of  Siena  marble,  while  the  lower  gallery  rests  upon  a  colonnade  of  iron 
pillars,  speckled  counterfeits  of  Tennessee  marble.  The  fioor  of  the  court  is  well  filled 
with  cases  of  drawers  containing  the  papers  of  applicants  for  pensions,  or  an  increase, 
so  tidily  arranged  that  the  file  of  each  man  can  be  referred  to  without  delay.  It  is  very 
helpful,  however,  to  know  the  registry  number  of  the  case,  which  is  borne  by  every 
paper  pertaining  to  it.  The  cases  on  file  exceed  a  million  ;  about  1,000,000  beneficiaries 
are  carried  on  the  rolls,  and  the  outlay  of  the  bureau  is  now  about  $145,000,000  a  year. 
Over  1,800  persons,  one-sixth  of  whom  are  women,  are  employed  here,  but  room  is  left 
for  offices  for  the  Railroad  Commissioners  on  the  third  fioor.  The  United  States  Pen¬ 
sion  Agency,  where  local  pensioners  are  paid,  is  in  the  Pension  Office  Building. 

The  spacious  covered  court  of  this  building  has  been  used  on  the  last  three  occasions 
for  the  giving  of  the  inaugural  ball,  which  custom  decrees  shall  take  place  on  the  even¬ 
ing  of  the  day  each  new  President  is  ushered  into  office.  In  the  early 
InaUg^Ural  days,  when  the  minuet,  stiff  brocades,  and  powdered  hair  were  still  fash- 

Balls.  ionable,  these  were  affairs  as  elegant  and  enjoj^able  as  they  were  select 

and  stately;  but  latterly  the  number  of  officials  and  their  families 
properly  entitled  to  attend  such  a  semi-official  function  has  become  so  great,  and  the 
crowd  who  are  able  to  buy  tickets  is  so  much  greater,  that  no  system  of  restriction  thus 
far  devised  has  been  successful  in  keeping  this  ball  down  to  a  manageable  size.  It  is 
said  that  17,000  persons  were  crushed  into  the  court  of  the  Pension  Office  Building  at 
the  inaugural  ball  of  March  4,  1885,  and  the  crowds  since  have  prevented  any  dancing 
or  other  real  enjoyment  of  the  festivities,  which  resulted  only  in  injury  to  health,  costly 
toilets,  and  the  building. 

Census  Office.  The  Census  Bureau,  charged  with  making  the  decennial  census,  was 
placed  in  1899  in  a  rented  building,  erected  for  its  purposes,  which 
occupies  half  a  square  on  B  Street,  between  First  and  Second.  It  is  a  low. 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS 


111 


THE  PENSION  OFFICE  —  Judiciary  Square,  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  G  Streets,  N.  W. 


112 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


brick  structure 
without  any  arch¬ 
itectural  preten¬ 
sions,  and  no  vis¬ 
itors  are  admitted 
to  its  busy  offices. 

The  Gen(‘ral 
Land  Office, 


Land  and 
Indian 
Offices. 

which  is  charged 
with  the  survey, 
management,  and 

sale  of  the  public  domain,  has  quarters  in  the  old  Post  Office  building  on  Seventh  Street, 
which  in  1899  became  an  annex  of  the  Interior  Department.  Here,  also,  are  the  offices 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.  The  office  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education 
is  near  by,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Eighth  and  G  streets,  where  an  extensive  librarj’ 
of  pedagogy  is  open  to  the  inspection  of  teachers.  The  Geological  Survey  has  fine  offices 
in  the  Ilooe  Building,  1330  F  Street. 

Certain  other  branches  of  the  Government,  not  under  departmental  control  but 
responsible  directly  to  Congress,  may  be  briefly  spoken  of  here. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  is  the  most  important  of  these,  and  is  elsewhere  described. 

The  Government  Printing  Office,  whose  chief  is  styled  “  the  Public  Printer,”  is  the 
place  where  the  Congressional  Record,  or  report  of  the  daily  proceedings  of  Congress,  is 
printed;  also  all  the  public  and  private  bills  and  documents  for  Congress, 
Government  the  yearly  departmental  reports,  and  the  enormous  mass  of  miscellaneous 
Printing  publications  of  the  Government.  It  is  located  on  North  Capitol  and  H 
Office.  streets  ;  2,900  persons  are  employed  during  the  congressional  session  and 

about  2,700  at  other  periods,  and  it  is  said  to  be  the  largest  printing 
office  in  the  world.  Everything  connected  with  the  making  of  books  can  be  done  there, 
and  the  highest  degree  of  excellence  in  printing  and  binding  may  be  reached.  It  is  run 
under  very  systematic  methods. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  controlled  by  a  commissioner,  collects  and 
publishes  useful  information  on  subjects  connected  with  labor  and  commerce,  promoting 
the  material,  social,  intellectual,  and  moral  prosperity  of  men  and  women  who  live  by 
their  daily  earnings.  It  publishes  an  annual  report,  largely  statistical.  The  office  is 
at  513  and  515  Fourteenth  Street,  N.  W. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission  makes  and  supervises  all  regulations  and 
Civil  Service.  examinations  respecting  applicants  for  employment  in  the  Government 
service  in  tliose  chissfs  under  the  civil  service  law.  It  has  offices  in  the 
Concordia  Building,  Eighth  and  £  streets. 

The  Bureau  of  American  Republics,  whose  purpose  it  is  to  promote  trade,  intelli¬ 
gence,  and  comity  among  all  the  American  republics,  have  offices  at  No.  2  Jackson 
Place,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Lafayette  Square. 

The  Free  Public  Library  is  located  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Eighth,  and  K  streets.  It  was 
given  to  the  city  by  Andrew  Carnegie.  The  cost  of  building  this  library  was 
$375,000. 


DIPLOMATIC  ROOM.  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE 


( 


BIRD  S-EYE  VIEW,  LOOKING  EAST  FROM  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT. 


VIII. 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS. 


The  Washington  Monument. 

The  dignity,  symmetry,  and  towering  height  of  Washington’s  character,  as  it  now 
presents  itself  to  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  are  well  exemplified  in  the  majestic 
simplicity  of  his  monument  in  Washington.  This  pure  and  glittering  shaft,  asking  no 
aid  from  inscription  or  ornament,  strikes  up  into  heaven  and  leads  the  thought  to  a 
patriotism  as  spotless  and  a  manhood  as  lofty  as  any  American  has  attained  to.  It  is  the 
glory  and  grandeur  of  this  superb  monument  that  it  typifies  and  recalls 
not  Washington  the  man,  but  Washington  the  character.  It  is  really  a  GrandCUr. 
monument  to  the  American  people  in  the  name  of  their  foremost  repre¬ 
sentative.  It  is  in  itself  a  constantly  beautiful  object,  intensified,  unconsciously  to  the 
beholder,  perhaps,  by  the  symbolism  and  sentiment  it  involves.  With  every  varying 
mood  of  the  changing  air  and  sky,  or  time  of  day,  it  assumes  some  new  phase  of 
interest  to  the  eye.  Now  it  is  clear  and  firm  against  the  blue  —  hard,  sharp-edged,  cold, 
near  at  hand  ;  anon  it  withdraws  and  softens  and  seems  to  tremble  in  a  lambent  envelope 
of  azure  ether,  or  to  swim  in  a  golden  mist  as  its  shadow,  like  that  of  a  mighty  dial, 
marks  the  approach  of  sunset  upon  the  greensward  that  rolls  eastward  from  its  base. 
The^most  picturesque  view  of  it,  doubtless,  is  that  from  the  east,  where  you  may 
“compose”  it  in  the  distance  of  a  picture,  for  which  the  trees  and  shrubbery,  winding 
roads  and  Norman  towers,  of  the  Smithsonian  park  form  the  most  artistic  of  foregrounds. 

This  monument  is  the  realization  of  a  popular  movement  for  a  national  memorial  to 
Washington  which  began  before  his  death,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  indicate  his  own 
preference  for  this  site,  and  was  expressed  in  a  congressional  resolution  in 
1799,  which  contemplated  an  equestrian  statue.  The  death  of  Washington  History, 
revived  the  matter,  and  a  bill  appropriating  $150,000  for  a  mausoleum 
passed  both  houses,  but  was  mislaid  and  not  signed  at  the  close  of  the  session.  The  next 
Congress  was  made  up  of  Washington’s  political  opponents,  and  his  monument  was  no 
more  heard  of  until  an  association  was  formed,  headed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
ex  officio,  which  undertook  to  retrieve  what  it  considered  a  national  disgrace,  and  raised 
a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose.  This  site  was  obtained,  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
with  impressive  ceremonies  on  the  4th  of  July,  1848,  and  the  work  progressed  until  the 
shaft  had  reached  a  height  of  150  feet,  when  the  funds  gave  out.  The  coming  of  the 
Civil  War  turned  men’s  attention  elsewhere,  but  interest  was  revived  by  the  wave  of 
patriotism  developed  by  the  Centennial  year,  under  the  infiuence  of  which  Congress 
agreed  to  finish  the  shaft.  To  Gen.  T.  L.  Casey,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  was 
intrusted  the  task  of  enlarging  and  strengthening  the  foundations  —  a  most  difficult  piece 
of  engineering  which  he  accomplished  with  consummate  skill.  The  foundations  are 
described  as  constructed  of  a  mass  of  solid  blue  rock,  146  feet  square.  ‘  ‘  The  base  of 
shaft  is  55  feet  square,  and  the  lower  walls  are  15  feet  thick.  At  the  five-hundred-feet 
elevation,  where  the  pyramidal  top  begins,  the  walls  are  only  10  inches 
thick  and  about  35  feet  square.  The  inside  of  the  walls,  as  far  as  they  Dimensions, 
were  constructed  before  the  work  was  undertaken  by  the  Government  in 
1878  — 150  feet  from  the  base — is  of  blue  granite,  not  laid  in  courses.  From  this  point 

115 


116 


riCTORIAL  GRIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


10  within  a  short  distance  of  the  beginning  of  the  top  or  roof,  the  inside  of  the  walls  is 
of  regular  courses  of  granite,  corresponding  with  the  courses  of  marble  on  the  outside. 
For  the  top  marble  is  entirely  used.  The  marble  blocks  were  cut  or  ‘dressed’  in  the 
most  careful  manner,  and  laid  in  courses  of  two  feet  by  experienced  and  skillful  work¬ 
men.  There  is  no  ‘filling’  or  ‘backing’  between  the  granite  and  marble  blocks,  but 
they  are  all  closely  joined,  the  work  being  declared  ‘  the  best  piece  of  masonry  in  the 
world.’  By  a  plumb  line  suspended  from  the  top  of  the  monument  inside,  not  three- 
eighths  of  an  inch  deflection  has  been  noticed.  .  .  .  The  keystone  that  binds  the  interior 
ribs  of  stone  that  support  the  marble  facing  of  the  pyramidal  cap  of  the  monument, 
weighs  nearly  five  tons.  It  is  4  feet  6  inches  high,  and  8  feet  6  inches  square  at  the  top. 
,  .  .  On  the  6th  day  of  December,  1884,  the  capstone,  which  completed  the  shaft,  was 

set.  The  capstone  is  5  feet  inches  in  height,  and  its  base  is  somewhat  more  than  three 
feet  square.  At  its  cap,  or  peak,  it  is  five  inches  in  diameter.  On  the  cap  was  placi  1  a 
tip  or  point  of  aluminum,  a  composition  metal  which  resembles  polished  silver,  ^nd 
which  was  selected  because  of  its  lightness  and  freedom  from  oxidation,  and  because  it 
will  always  remain  bright.” 

The  original  design,  prepared  by  Robert  Mills,  contemplated  a  shaft  600  feet  in 
height,  rising  from  a  colonnaded  circular  memorial  hall,  which  was  to  contain  statues  of 
the  nation’s  worthies  and  paintings  of  great  scenes  in  its  history,  “while  the  crypt 
beneath  would  serve  as  a  burial  place  for  those  whom  the  people  should  especially 
honor.”  This  plan  has  been  definitely  abandoned. 

A  staircase  of  900  steps  winds  its  way  to  the  top,  around  an  interior  shaft  of  iron 
pillars,  in  which  the  elevator  runs  ;  few  people  walk  up,  but  many  descend  that  way,  in 
order  to  examine  more  carefully  the  inscribed  memorial  blocks  which  are 
Interior.  set  into  the  interior  wall  at  various  places.  Within  the  shaft  formed  by 
the  interior  iron  framework  runs  an  elevator,  making  a  trip  every  half 
hour,  and  carrying,  if  need  be,  thirty  persons.  As  this  elevator  and  its  ropes  are  of 
unusual  strength,  and  were  severely  tested  by  use  in  elevating  the  stone  required  for 
the  upper  courses  as  the  structure  progressed,  its  safety  need  not  be  suspected.  The 
elevator  is  lighted  by  electricity  and  carries  a  telephone.  Seven  minutes  are  required 
for  the  ascent  of  500  feet ;  and  ane  can  see,  as  it  passes,  all  the  inscriptions  and  carvings 
sufficiently  well  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  most  persons,  as  none  of  those  memorials 
have  any  artistic  excellence.  Several  not  embedded  in  the  walls  are  shown  in  the 
National  Museum.  An  officer  in  charge  of  the  floor  marshals  visitors  into  the  elevator, 
and  another  cares  for  the  observatory  floor  at  the  top  ;  but  no  fees  are  expected.  The 
surrounding  grounds  form  Washington  Park. 

The  view  from  the  eight  small  windows,  which  open  through  the  pyramidon,  or 
sloping  summit  of  the  obelisk,  517  feet  above  the  ground,  includes  a  circle  of  level 
country  having  a  radius  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles,  and  southwest 
View  from  extends  still  farther,  for  in  clear  weather  the  Blue  Ridge  is  well  defined 
the  Top.  in  that  direction.  The  Potomac  is  in  sight  from  up  near  Chain  Bridge 
down  to  far  below  Mount  Veraon  ;  and  the  whole  district  lies  unrolled 
beneath  you  like  a  map.  To  climb  the  Washington  Monument  is,  therefore,  an  excel¬ 
lent  method  of  beginning  an  intelligent  survey  of  the  capital,  and  of  “  getting  one's 
bearings.” 

Looking  first  toward  the  north,  the  most  compact  part  of  the  city  is  surveyed. 
At  the  very  foot  of  the  monument  are  the  artificial  Carp  Ponds,  so  called  because, 
years  ago,  the  Fisheries  Commission  propagated  European  carp  for  distribution  there. 
Beyond,  in  the  center-foreground,  are  the  grounds  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  rising 
in  a  gentle  slope  to  the  White  House.  On  its  left  stands  the  State,  War,  and  Navy 
Building;  and  to  the  left  of  that  (and  nearer)  is  the  marble  front  of  the  Corcoran 


118  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

Art  Gallery,  on  Seventeenth  Street,  and  beyond  that  is  seen  the  old  Octagon  House, 
on  a  straight  line  with  the  Naval  Observatory,  conspicuous  in  white  paint  and  yellow 
domes,  three  miles  away  amid  the  green  hills  beyond  Georgetown.  Nearer  the  water 
than  any  of  these  is  a  large  yellow  house  among  the  trees  —  the  Van  Ness  mansion,  one 
of  the  first  costly  residences  built  in  Washington, 

Connecticut  Avenue  is  the  street  leading  from  the  White  House  straight  northwest 
to  the  boundary,  where  it  breaks  into  the  fashionable  suburban  parks  on  Meridian  Hill, 
at  the  left  of  whicn  are  the  wooded  vales  of  Rock  Creek,  near  which 
Northwestern  the  noble  Anglican  Cathedral  is  to  arise.  At  the  right  of  the  White 
Outlook.  House  is  the  Treasury,  here  seen  to  inclose  two  great  courts.  The 
lines  of  Seventeenth,  Sixteenth,  Fifteenth  streets,  and  of  Vermont 
Avenue,  lead  the  eye  across  the  most  solid  and  fashionable  northwest  quarter  of  the 
city  to  the  more  thinly  settled  hill-districts,  where  are  conspicuous  the  square  tower 
of  the  Soldiers’  Home  (434  miles),  the  lofty  buildings  of  Howard  University,  and, 
farther  to  the  right  and  more  distant,  the  halls  of  the  Catholic  University. 

The  eastern  outlook  carries  the  picture  around  to  the  right,  and  embraces  the  valley 
of  the  Anacostia  River,  or  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac.  Here  the  conspicuous  object 
is  the  Capitol  (I34  miles  distant),  whose  true  proportions  and  supreme 
Scene  size  can  now  be  well  understood.  Over  its  right  wing  appears  the 

Toward  the  Congressional  Library,  its  gilt  dome  flashing  back  the  rays  of  the 
Capitol.  sun,  and  setting  it  out  sharply  against  the  Maryland  hills.  Between 
the  Monument  and  the  Capitol  stretches  the  green  Mall,  with  the  grounds 
and  buildings  of  the  Agricultural  Department  nearest  the  observer ;  then  the  castellated 
towers  of  the  l?mithsonian,  the  low  breadth  of  the  National  Museum,  the  red,  shape¬ 
less  pile  of  the  Army  Medical  Museum,  and  the  small  Fisheries  Building,  leading  the 
eye  as  far  as  Sixth  Street,  beyond  which  are  open  parks.  This  leads  the  eye  to  the  broad 
current  of  the  Anacostia,  which  can  be  overlooked  as  far  up  as  the  Navy  Yard,  and 
downward  past  the  bridge  to  Anacostia,  to  where  it  joins  the  Potomac  at  Greenleaf’s 
Point.  The  Military  barracks  there  can  be  seen;  and  this  side  of  it,  along  the  harbor 
branch  of  the  Potomac,  are  the  steamboat  wharves. 

The  view  southward  is  straight  down  the  Potomac,  far  beyond  the  spires  of  Alex¬ 
andria,  six  miles  in  an  air  line,  to  where  it  bends  out  of  view  around  Cedar  Point.  The 
new  steel  bridge,  which  replaced  “Long  Bridge,”  is  in  the  immediate 
Down  the  foreground,  and  the  railways  leading  to  it  can  be  traced.  To  the  right, 

Potomac.  the  eyes  sweep  over  a  wide  area  of  the  red  Virginia  hills,  thickly  crowned 

during  the  Civil  War  with  fortifications,  the  sites  of  some  of  which 
may  be  discovered  by  the  knowing,  and  covers  the  disastrous  fields  of  Manassas  off  to 
the  right  on  the  level  blue  horizon. 

The  western  view  continues  this  landscape  of  Virginia,  and  includes  about  three 
miles  of  the  Potomac  above  Long  Bridge.  Close  beneath  the  eye  are  the  old  and  scat¬ 
tered  houses  of  the  southwest  quarter,  with  the  Van  Ness  homestead. 
Up  the  and  the  hill  crowned  by  the  old  Naval  Observatory  on  ground  where 

Potomac.  Washington  meant  to  place  his  national  university.  Above  that  the  cur¬ 
rent  of  the  river  is  broken  by  Analostan,  or  Mason’s  Island,  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Rock  Creek,  beyond  which  are  the  crowded,  hilly  streets  of  Georgetown,  and 
the  Aqueduct  bridge,  leading  to  Rosslyn,  on  the  southern  bank.  Then  come  the  high 
banks  which  confine  and  hide  the  river,  and  bear  upon  their  crest  the  flashing  basin  of 
the  distributing  reservoir.  Beyond  it,  over  the  city  of  Georgetown,  are  the  beautiful 
wooded  heights  about  Woodley,  where  President  Cleveland  had  his  summer  home,  and 
thousands  of  charming  suburban  houses  are  building.  On  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river 
the  Arlington  mansion  appears,  somewhat  at  the  left,  and  three  miles  distant,  more  in 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS. 


119 


front,  and  nearer,  the  National  Cemetery  embowered  in  trees;  and  behind  it,  the  clus¬ 
tered  quarters  of  Fort  Meyer.  The  distance  is  a  rolling,  semi-wooded  country,  thickly 
sown  with  farms,  hamlets,  and  villages,  among  which  Fall's  Church  is  alone  conspicuous, 
and  fading  away  to  a  high  level  horizon;  but  when  the  air  is  clear,  the  eye  can  see  and 
rejoice  in  the  faint  but  distinct  outlines  of  the  turquoise-tinted  Blue  Ridge,  far  away  in 
the  southwest. 

Some  Scientific  Departments. 

The  public  institutions  along  the  south  side  of  The  Mall,  dealing  in  a  large  part  of 
the  scientific  work  of  the  nation,  contain  more  to  interest  the  stranger  in  Washington 
than  any  other,  except  the  Capitol  itself.  They  include  the  Washington  Monument,  and 
there  are  good  reasons  for  advising  that  the  ascent  of  this  should  be  the  very  first  thing 
done  by  the  visitor  ;  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  the  Department  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  the  National  and  Army  Medical  museums  in  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  and  the 
Fisheries  Commission.  It  is  a  long  day’s  task  to  make  a  satisfactory  tour  of  these  build¬ 
ings  ;  and  the  National  Museum  alone  has  material  for  almost  unlimited  study  in 
many  paths  of  knowledge.  Let  us  begin  with  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing, 
the  name  given  to  the  Government’s  factory  for  designing,  engraving, 
and  printing  its  bonds,  certificates,  checks,  notes,  revenue  and  postage  BurcaU  Of 
stamps,  and  many  other  official  papers.  It  is  under  control  of  the  Treas-  Engraving 
ury  Department,  and  occupies  a  handsome  brick  building  on  Fourteenth  and  Printing. 
Street,  S.  W.,  within  five  minutes’  walk  of  the  Washington  Monument. 

It  is  three  stories  high,  220  feet  long  by  135  feet  wide,  and  was  built  in  1878  at  a  cost 
of  $300,000.  An  addition,  erected  in  1906,  cost  $215,000.  Visitors  are  received  from  10 
to  2  o’clock,  and  wait  in  the  reception  room  until  an  attendant  (several  women  are 
assigned  to  this  duty)  is  ready  to  conduct  a  party  over  the  building,  which  is  simply  a 


120 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


NUMBERING  CURRENCY  NOTES. 

crowded  factory  of  high-class  technical  work,  the  products  of  which  have  received  the 
highest  encomiums  at  several  world’s  fairs  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America. 

Just  east  of  this  bureau,  occupying  large  grounds  between  Fourteenth  and  Twelfth 
streets,  S.  W.,  and  reached  from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  by  street  cars  on  both  those 
streets,  and  from  the  Capitol  by  the  Belt  Line  along  Maryland  Avenue  and  B  Street, 
S.  W.,  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  This  popular  Department 
grew  out  of  the  special  interest  which  early  patent  commissioners  took  in  agricultural 
machinery,  improvements,  and  the  collection  and  distribution  of  seeds — a  function  that 
formed  a  large  part  of  its  work  until  1885.  It  was  gradually  separated  from  the  Patent 
Office  work,  erected  into  a  commissionership,  and  finally  (1889)  was  given 
Department  the  rank  of  an  executive  department,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  being 

of  at  that  time  the  last-added  Cabinet  officer.  His  office  is  in  the  new 

Agriculture,  marble  building,  which  cost  $2,500,000,  situated  west  of  the  Smithsonian 
grounds,  and  he  has  the  help  of  an  assistant  secretary,  to  whom  has  been 
assigned  the  direction  of  the  great  amount  of  scientific  woik  done,  including  the 
experiment  stations,  and  the  studies  of  fibers,  irrigation,  and  the  department  museum. 

The  scope  of  the  work  is  now  very  extended,  including  the  study  of  diseases  of 
live  stock,  and  the  control  of  the  inspection  of  import  and  export  animals,  cattle 
transportation,  and  meat;  also  the  enforcement  of  the  pure  food  and  drug  laws,  a 
bureau  of  statistics  of  crops,  live  stock,  etc.,  at  home  and  abroad;  scientific  investiga¬ 
tions  in  forestry,  botany,  fruit  culture,  cultivation  of  textile  plants,  and  diseases  of 
trees,  grains,  vegetables,  and  plants;  studies  of  the  injuries  or  beneficial  relations 
to  agriculture  of  insects,  birds,  and  wild  quadrupeds;  investigations  as  to  roads 
and  methods  of  irrigation;  chemical  and  microscopical  laboratories,  and  a  great  number 
of  experiment  stations,  correspondents,  and  observers  in  various  parts  of  this  and  other 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS. 


121 


countries.  The  results  of  all  these  investigations  and  experiments  are  liberally  pub¬ 
lished,  and  in  spite  of  a  sneer  now  and  then  the  people  are  satisfied  that  the  $3,300,000 
or  so  expended  annually  by  this  department  is  a  wise  and  profitable  outlay. 

There  is  a  museum  in  a  separate  building  in  the  rear  of  the  main  one,  exhibiting 
excellent  wax  models  of  fruits,  nuts,  and  natural  foods  of  various  kinds;  and  an 
especially  full  and  interesting  display  of  models  showing  the  damage 
wrought  by  many  kinds  of  insects  injurious  to  trees  and  plants;  also  an  Ag^ricultural 
attractive  and  instructive  exhibit,  comprising  a  number  of  groups  of  I^ascum. 
mounted  birds,  ground-squirrels,  gophers,  and  other  mammals,  in  natural 
surroundings,  each  representing  a  chapter  in  the  life  history  of  the  animal  and  showing 
its  relation  to  agriculture.  These  were  exhibited  at  the  World’s  Columbian  Exposition, 
at  Chicago,  in  1893,  and  excited  admiration.  The  library  and  herbarium  will  interest 
botanists.  The  ordinary  visitor,  however,  will  prefer  to  remain  out  of  doors,  where 
years  ago  care  made  these  grounds  the  best  cultivated  part  of  The  Mall,  and  a  practical 
example  of  ornamental  gardening.  The  extensive  greenhouses  must  also  be  visited  ;  all 
are  open  at  all  reasonable  hours,  and  the  palmhouse  is  a  particularly  delightful  place  in 
a  stormy  winter’s  day.  A  tower  in  the  garden,  composed  of  slabs  with  their  foot-thick 
bark  from  one  of  the  giant  trees  (sequoia)  of  California,  should  not  be  neglected,  for  it 
represents  the  exact  size  of  the  huge  tree,  “General  Noble,”  from  which  the  pieces 
were  cut. 

One  important  branch  of  the  department  —  namely,  the  Weather  Bureau  —  is  domi¬ 
ciled  at  the  corner  of  M  and  Twenty-fourth  streets.  There  may  be  seen  the  delicate 
instruments  by  which  the  changes  of  meteorological  conditions  are 
recorded,  and  the  method  of  forecasting  the  weather  for  the  ensuing  Weather 

forty-eight  hours,  which  is  based  upon  reports  of  local  conditions  tele-  Service, 

graphed  each  night  and  morning  from  the  observers  in  all  parts  of  North 
America,  whereupon  orders  to  display  appropriate  signals  are  telegraphed  to  each  office. 

The  system  grew  up  from  the  experiments  of  Gen.  A.  G.  Myer,  Chief  Signal 
Officer,  U.  S.  A.,  who  invented  the  present  system  and  conducted  it  under  the  authority 
of  Congress  (1870)  as  a  part  of  the  signal  service  of  the  army.  Generals 
Hazen  and  A.  W.  Greely,  of  Arctic  fame,  succeeded  him  and  perfected  Forecasting, 
the  service,  but  in  1891  it  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Agricul¬ 
ture  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  civilian  “chief  ”  appointed  by  the  President.  In  addition 
to  the  forecasting  of  storms,  etc.,  the  bureau  has  in  hand  the  gauging  and  reporting  of 
rivers;  the  maintenance  and  operation  of  seacoast  telegraph  lines,  and  the  collection  and 
transmission  of  marine  intelligence  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  and  navigation;  the 
reporting  of  temperature  and  rainfall  conditions  for  the  cotton  interests,  and  a  large 
amount  of  scientific  study  in  respect  to  meteorology. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  and  National  Museum  are  reached  by  crossing  Twelfth 
Street,  S.  W.,  and  entering  the  spacious  park.  Near  the  gate  stands  a  lifelike  statue  of 
Joseph  Henry,  the  first  secretary  of  the  Institution.  It  is  of  bronze,  after  a  model  by 
W.  W.  Story,  and  was  erected  by  the  regents  in  1884. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  was  constituted  by  an  act  of  Congress  to  administer  the 
bequest  of  his  fortune  made  to  the  United  States  by  James  Smithson,  a  younger  son  of 
the  English  Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  a  man  of  science,  who  died 
in  1829.  In  1838  the  legacy  became  available  and  was  brought  over  in  Smithsonian 
gold  sovereigns,  which  were  recoined  into  American  money,  yielding  Institution. 
$508,318.46.  The  language  of  this  bequest  was  : 

I  bequeath  the  whole  of  my  property  to  the  United  States  of  America  to  found  at  Washington, 
under  the  name  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  an  establishment  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men. 


122 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  acceptance  of  this  trust  is  the  only  action  of  the  kind  ever  taken  by  the  nation, 
and  the  Institution  stands  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  Government.  It  is  composed  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  ex  officio,  a  chancellor, 
who  is  elected,  and  a  secretary,  who  is  the  active  administrator  of  its  affairs.  The  busi¬ 
ness  of  the  institution  is  managed  by  a  board  of  regents,  composed  of  the  Vice-President 
and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  three  Senators,  three  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  six  other  eminent  persons  nominated  by  a  joint  resolution  of  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  immediate  and  primary  object  of  the 
board,  as  above  constituted,  is  to  administer  the  fund,  which  has  now  increased  to  about 
$1,000,000,  and  in  doing  so  it  promotes  the  object  of  its  founder  thus : 

(1)  In  the  increase  of  knowledge  by  original  investigation  and  study,  either  in  science 
or  literature.  (2)  In  the  diffusion  of  this  knowledge  by  publication  everywhere,  and 
especially  by  promoting  an  interchange  of  thought  among  those  promi- 
Plan  and  nent  in  learning  among  all  nations,  through  its  correspondents.  These 
Scope*  embrace  institutions  or  societies  conspicuous  in  art,  science,  or  literature 

throughout  the  world.  Its  publications  are  in  three  principal  issues, 
namely  :  The  “Contributions  to  Knowledge,”  the  “Miscellaneous  Collections,” and  the 
“Annual  Report.”  Numerous  works  are  published  annually  by  it,  under  one  of  these 
forms,  and  distributed  to  its  principal  correspondents. 

There  was  early  begun  a  system  of  international  exchanges  of  correspondence  and 
publications,  which  forms  a  sort  of  clearing-house  for  the  scientific  world  in  its  dealings 
with  Americans;  and  there  is  no  civilized  country  or  people  on  the  globe  where  the 
Institution  is  not  represented  by  its  correspondents,  who  now  number  about  24,000. 
The  immediate  benefit  to  the  Institution  itself  has  been  in  enabling  it  to  build  up  a  great 
scientific  library  of  over  300,000  titles  and  mainly  deposited  in  the  Librar}’-  of  Congress. 

The  Smithsonian  Building,  of  Seneca  brownstone,  was  planned  by  James  Renwick, 
the  architect  whose  best  known  work,  perhaps,  is  St.  Patrick’s  Cathedral  in  New  York. 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  I NSTlTUTION— The  Mall,  near  B  and  Tenth  Streets,  S.  W. 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS. 


123 


It  was  completed  in  1855.  “Features  selected  from  the  Gothic  and  Romanesque  styles 
are  combined  in  its  architecture,  but  its  exterior,  owing  chiefly  to  the  irregular  sky  line, 
is  very  picturesque  and  pleasing.”  For  the  purposes  of  exhibition  of  specimens  and 
laboratory  work,  however,  the  building  is  badly  lighted,  wasteful  of  space,  and  other¬ 
wise  unsuitable.  The  eastern  wing  was  for  many  years  the  home  of  Prof.  Joseph  Henry, 
the  first  secretary,  but  is  now  devoted  to  the  offices  of  administration. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  has  under  its  charge,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  its  own 
funds,  certain  bureaus  which  are  sustained  by  annual  appropriations.  These  are:  The 
United  States  National  Museum,  the  Bureau  of  International  Exchanges, 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  the  National  Zoological  Park,  and  the  Astro-  Smithsonian 
physical  Observatory.  Of  the  National  Museum  and  the  Zoological  Park  BurcaUS. 
more  extended  notice  will  be  found  elsewhere.  The  Bureau  of  Ethnology 
is  a  branch  of  the  work  which  studies  the  ethnology,  history,  languages,  and  customs  of 
the  American  Indians,  and  publishes  the  results  in  annual  reports  and  occasional  bulle¬ 
tins.  It  has  been  the  means  of  collecting  a  vast  amount  of  important  and  interesting 
material  illustrative  of  the  primitive  natives  of  this  continent;  and  all  this  is  deposited 
in  the  National  Museum.  The  offices  of  this  bureau  are  at  1333  F  Street. 


NATIONAL  MUSEUM. —  B  Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets. 


In  no  single  respect,  perhaps,  has  the  progress  of  the  American  capital  been  more 
striking  than  in  the  history  of  the  National  Museum.  Originating  in  a  quantity  of 
“curiosities”  which  had  been  given  to  the  United  States  by  foreign 
powers,  or  sent  home  by  consuls  and  naval  officers,  old  visitors  to  Wash-  National 

ington  remember  it  as  a  heterogeneous  cabinet  in  the  Patent  Office.  In  I^USCUm. 

1846  a  step  was  taken  toward  something  coherent  and  creditable,  by  an 
act  of  Congress  establishing  a  National  Museum,  following  the  precedent  of  a  dozen  or 
more  other  nations  ;  but  this  intention  took  effect  verj'  slowly,  though  various  explor¬ 
ing  expeditions  and  embassies  largely  increased  the  bulk  of  the  collections,  which,  by 
and  by,  were  trundled  over  to  the  Smithsonian  building. 


124 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  main  entrance  is  in  the  north  front,  and  is  surmounted  hy  “an  allegorical 
group  of  statuary,  by  C.  Buberl  of  New  York,  representing  Columbia  as  the  Patron  of 
Science  and  Industry,”  Entering,  you  find  yourself  at  once  in  the  North  Hall,  with 
the  statuary,  plants,  and  .fountain  of  the  rotunda  making  a  pleasing  picture  in  the  dis¬ 
tance.  This  hall  is  crowded  with  cases  containing  personal  relics  of  great  men,  and 
other  historical  objects. 

The  “relics”  include  a  large  quantity  of  furniture,  apparel,  instruments,  table¬ 
ware,  documents,  etc.,  which  belonged  to  Washington;  many  of  them  were  taken 
from  Arlington,  while  many  others  were  purchased,  in  1878,  from  the 
Personal  heirs  of  his  favorite  (adopted)  daughter,  Nellie  Custis,  who  became  Mrs. 

Relics.  Lewis  and  lived  until  1832.  Articles  that  once  belonged  to  Jefferson, 

Jackson,  Franklin  ''especially  his  own  hand  printing  press),  and  several 
other  statesmen  or  commanders  of  note  ;  presents,  medals,  etc.,  given  to  naval  officers, 
envoys,  and  other  representatives  of  the  Government,  by  foreign  rulers,  are  shown  in 
great  numbers ;  but  all  are  well  labeled  and  need  here  neither  cataloging  nor  descrip¬ 
tion.  A  most  brilliant  and  valuable  cabinet  is  the  collection  of  swords,  presents,  and 
testimonials  of  various  kinds  given  to  General  Grant  during  the  war  and  in  the  course 
of  his  trip  around  the  world.  A  large  display  of  pottery  and  porcelain,  illustrating  its 
manufacture  and  characteristics,  in  China,  Japan,  France  (Sevres),  England,  North 
America,  and  elsewhere  occupies  many  cases  ;  also  a  valuable  series  of  lacquers. 

At  the  right  of  this  hall  is  the  Lecture-room,  beyond  which,  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  building,  are  the  offices  of  the  Director,  of  the  Museum,  and  the  Libraiy. 

The  lecture-room  is  surrounded  by  models  representing  the  home  life  of 
Lectures.  the  American  Indians,  and  upon  its  walls  are  hung  the  Catlin  Gallery  of 
Indian  paintings,  made  by  George  Catlin  on  the  Upper  Missouri  plains 
between  1832  and  1840.  It  is  devoted  to  scientific  conferences. 

On  the  left  of  the  entrance  hall  is  a  room  devoted  to  the  various  implements  used  in 
the  fisheries,  and  beyond  that  an  apartment  where  a  great  number  and  variety  of 
models  of  boats  and  vessels,  especially  those  used  in  the  fisheries  of  all  parts  of  the 
world,  may  be  examined.  These  were  largely  collected  during  the  tenth  census. 

Passing  on  into  the  Rotunda,  the  plaster  model  of  Crawford’s  “  Liberty,”  surmount¬ 
ing  the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  towers  above  the  fountain-basin,  and  is  surrounded  by 
several  other  models  of  statues,  the  bronze  or  marble  copies  of  which 
Rotunda.  ornament  the  parks  and  buildings  of  New  York,  Boston,  etc.  All  these 
are  fully  labeled.  The  two  great  Haviland  memorial  vases  here,  whose 
value  is  estimated  at  $16,000,  were  presented  by  the  great  pottery  firm  of  Haviland,  in 
Limoges,  France,  and  are  the  work  of  the  artists  Bracquemond  and  Delaplanche.  One 
is  entitled  “  1776,”  and  the  other  “  1876,”  and  they  are  designed  to  be  illustrative  of  the 
struggles  through  which  this  Republic  has  passed  into  prosperity. 

Beyond  the  rotunda  are  halls  devoted  to  mammals,  mounted  by  scientific  taxider¬ 
mists  in  a  remarU  ably  lifelike  manner;  to  skeletons  of  existing  and  extinct  animals; 
and  to  geological  specimens,  minerals,  ores,  the  building  stones  of  the  Union,  and  repre¬ 
sentative  fossils  —  a  department  in  which  the  museum  is  extremely  rich,  as  it  is  the 
depository  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 

In  the  middle  halls  of  the  building  are  an  extraordinary  number  of  articles  —  with 
thousands  more  hidden  away  in  storerooms  for  lack  of  space  to  exhibit  them  —  of  the 
industrial  arts  of  the  world,  and  the  life  of  its  inhabitants  in  every 
Costumes.  climate,  state  of  civilization,  and  condition  of  advancement.  One  hall  is 
devoted  wholly,  for  example,  to  costumes  and  textile  fabrics  of  every 
sort.  The  lay  figures  wearing  Hindoo,  Persian,  Japanese,  American  Indian,  and  other 
costumes,  were  largely  made  for  exhibition  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago. 


FROM  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MUSEUMS. 


125 


Where  actual  costumes  are  not  available,  figurines  wearing  a  miniature  of  the  native 
dress,  casts  of  statuettes,  and  pictures  are  used  to  increase  the  range  of  illustration.  Tl»e 
examples  of  the  home  life  and  arts  of  the  Eskimo,  among  American  savages,  and  of  the 
Japanese,  among  foreign  peoples,  are  particularly  numerous  and  com})lete.  Particular 
attention  is  called  here  to  the  series  of  fabrics,  especially  baskets,  made  from  rushes, 
grass,  split  roots,  and  the  like,  which  is  exceedingly  instructive  and  beautiful.  In 
another  hall  the  arts,  architecture,  machinery,  weapons,  navigation,  agricultural  imple¬ 
ments,  tools,  musical  instruments,  etc. ,  of  the  world  are  illustrated.  Pottery  forms  a 
large  and  richly  furnished  department,  ranging  from  rude  wares  taken 
from  prehistoric  graves  to  the  finest  product  of  Japan,  China,  India,  Pottery. 

England,  and  France.  No  other  museum  in  the  world  has  so  large  and 
complete  a  series  illustrating  the  native  Am-erican  pottery,  and  those  interested  in  the 
ceramic  arts  will  pause  a  long  time  over  the  work  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  the  South¬ 
west.  It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  mention  in  detail  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  objects 
of  artistic,  historic,  and  scientific  value  in  this  overfiowing  museum  ;  and  equally  useless 
to  attempt  to  guide  the  visitor  to  their  place,  since  the  cases  are  continually  being 
moved  about  to  make  room  for  important  accessions. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  collections,  indeed,  remain  in  the  old  Smithsonian 
building,  and  should  not  be  neglected;  they  are  open  to  the  public  from  9  to  4.30 
o’clock.  The  halls  on  the  ground  fioor  there  contain  a  splendid  series  of 
birds,  the  ornithological  collections  here  being  among  the  most  extended  Old 

and  useful  in  the  world.  At  the  west  end  is  an  extensive  and  attractive  Building, 
display  (highly  instructive  to  artists  as  well  as  naturalists)  of  the  inverte¬ 
brate  marine  life  of  both  the  fresh  waters  and  of  the  seas  adjacent  to  the  United  States  — 
sponges,  corals,  starfishes,  and  other  echinoderms,  mollusks  in  wide  and  beautiful 
variety,  crabs  and  their  kin,  and  many  other  preservable  representatives  of  the  humbler 
inhabitants  of  the  rivers  and  ocean. 

The  upper  floor  is  a  single  lofty  hall  filled  to  overflowing  with  collections  in  anthro¬ 
pology,  the  handiwork  of  primitive  and  savage  races  of  mankind,  illustrating  the  develop¬ 
ment,  art,  and  social  economy  of  uncivilized  mankind,  especially  during  the  prehistoric 
stone  age.  The  models  and  paintings  of  Arizona  cliff-dwellings  ought  especially  to  be 
noticed.  In  the  vestibule  below  are  full-sized  plaster  models  of  the  great  circular  calen¬ 
dar-stone  of  the  Mexicans,  etc. 

The  Army  Medical  Museum  occupies  the  handsome  brick  building  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  Smithsonian  grounds,  next  to  Seventh  Street.  This  institution  grew  up 
after  the  war,  out  of  the  work  of  the  Surgeon-General’s  office,  and  con¬ 
tains  a  great  museum  illustrating  not  only  all  the  means  and  methods  of  Army 

military  surgery,  but  all  the  diseases  and  casualties  of  war,  making  a  Medical 

grewsome  array  of  preserved  flesh  and  bones,  affected  by  wounds  or  Museum, 
disease ;  or  wax  or  plaster  models  of  the  effects  of  wounds  or  disease, 
which  the  average  visitor  could  contemplate  only  with  horror  and  dismay. 
This  museum,  nevertheless,  is  of  the  greatest  interest  and  value  to  the  medical 
and  surgical  profession,  and  comprises  some  25,000  specimens.  In  the  anatomical 
section  there  is  a  very  large  collection  of  human  crania,  and  about  1,500  skeletons 
of  American  mammals.  In  the  miscellaneous  sections  are  the  latest  api)liances 
for  the  treatment  of  diseases,  all  sorts  of  surgical  instruments,  and  models  of  ambu¬ 
lances,  hospitals,  etc.  The  library  is  the  most  complete  collection  of  medical  and 
surgical  literature  in  the  world,  surpassing  that  of  the  British  Museum. 

The  statue  of  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross,  in  front  of  this  museum,  appro-  StaiUCS. 
priately  commemorates  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  surgeons  (born 
1805,  died  1884),  and  an  author  and  teacher  of  renown.  It  was  erected  from  professional 


126 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


nubscriptions,  and  presented  to  the  Government  in  1897.  It  is  of  bronze,  modeled 
by  Calder. 

A  beautiful  monument  to  Daguerre,  the  originator  of  photography,  stands  near  by 
this.  It  was  designed  by  Hartley  of  New  York.  The  new  building  for  the  National 
Museum  is  located  on  The  Mall,  between  9th  and  12th  streets,  facing  the  Smithsonian 
Institute.  Is  built  of  granite,  558  feet  front,  by  356  feet  in  depth,  and  80  feet  high. 
Cost,  $3,500,000. 

The  United  States  Fish  Commission  is  the  last  place  to  be  visited  on  this  side  of  The 
Mall.  It  occupies  the  old  ante-bellum  arsenal  on  Sixth  Street,  from  which  that  part  of 
the  park  between  Sixth  and  Seventh  streets  derives  its  name.  Armory 
Fish  Square.  Here,  on  the  basement  floor,  can  be  seen  various  aquaria  filled 

Commission,  with  growing  plants  and  inhabited  by  fishes,  rare  and  common,  and  by 
quaint  and  pretty  swimming  and  creeping  things  that  dwell  in  the  rivers 
and  sea.  The  apparatus  involved  in  various  forms  of  fish-hatching  can  be  examined, 
and  perhaps  the  process  may  be  watched  in  a  series  of  tanks  which  is  often  so  employed. 
If  it  should  happen  that  one  of  the  railway  cars,  in  which  young  fish  are  carried  about 
the  country  for  planting  in  inland  waters,  is  standing  in  the  yard,  it  would  be  worth 
the  trouble  to  look  at  its  arragements.  The  upper  floor  of  this  building  is  devoted  to 
the  offices  of  the  Fish  Commissioner  and  his  assistants. 


, .  /•': 


-W  - 


THE  MALL — View  Looking  North  from  Departmei  t  of  Agriculture. 


STATUARY  HALL,  CORCORAN  GALLERY  OF  ARTS 


IX. 


THE  COECORAN  AND  OTHER  ART  GALLERIES. 


The  Art  Galleries  of  the  city,  properly  speaking,  are  two  in  number  ;  but  those 
interested  in  statuary,  pictures,  and  ceramics  will  find  a  great  quantity  of  all  these  dis¬ 
played  at  the  Capitol,  in  various  department  buildings,  on  the  walls  of  the  new  Library 
of  Congress,  and  at  the  National  Museum.  Of  first  importance  is  the  Corcoran  col¬ 
lection: 

The  Corcoran  Art  Gallery  has  no  connection  with  the  Government,  although  its 
trustees  are  given  a  place  in  the  Congressional  Directory,  It  is  wholly  the  result  of  the 
philanthropy  of  a  wealthy  citizen,  William  Wilson  Corcoran,  who  died 
in  1893.  “He  early  decided,”  it  has  been  well  said,  “that  at  least  one-  W.  W. 

half  of  his  money  accumulations  should  be  held  for  the  welfare  of  men,  Corcoran. 

and  he  kept  his  self-imposed  obligation  so  liberally  that  his  charities, 
private  and  public,  exceed  the  amount  of  $5,000,000,  and  that  ‘  he  left  no  aspect  of  human 

life  untouched  by  his  ben¬ 
eficence.’”  The  Corcoran 
Gallery  was  opened  in  1869, 
in  the  noble  building  oppo¬ 
site  the  War  Department. 
This  has  now  been  super¬ 
seded  by  the  splendid  gal¬ 
lery  on  Seventeenth  Street, 
at  New  York  Avenue,  fac¬ 
ing  the  Executive  grounds. 
The  Corcoran  donations, 
including  the  old  lot  and 
building,  have  been  $1,600.- 
000 ;  and  about  $350,000 
has  been  paid  by  the 
trustees  for  paintings,  be¬ 
sides  what  has  been  given. 
A  large  number  of  casts  of 
classic  statues,  famous  bas- 
reliefs,  and  smaller  carvings 
in  this  gallery,  are  not  only  beautiful  in  themselves,  but  of  great  value  to  students. 

This  building  has  a  length  of  265  feet  in  Seventeenth  Street,  140  feet  in  New  York 
Avenue,  and  120  feet  in  E  Street.  In  architecture  it  is  Neo-Greek,  after  the  plans  of 
Ernest  Flagg  of  New  York,  and  the  external  walls,  above  the  granite 
basement,  are  of  Georgia  marble,  white,  pure,  and  brilliant.  There  are  Description 

no  windows  on  the  second  or  gallery  floor  of  the  fa9ade,  all  the  light  for  of  Building^, 
the  exhibition  of  the  pictures  coming  from  the  skylight  in  the  roof.  The 
only  ornaments  of  this  front  are  about  the  doorway,  which  is  elaborately  carved,  and 
under  the  eaves  of  the  roof,  where  the  names  of  the  world’s  famous  artists  are  inscribed 
in  severely  simple  letters.  Entering  the  front  door,  the  visitor  is  confronted  by  a  grand 
staircase,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  great  Statuary  Hall,  170  feet  long,  which  occupies  the 

129 


THE  CORCORAN  GALLERY  OF  ARTS. 


130 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


ground  floor.  This  is  so  lighted  by  open¬ 
ings  through  the  gallery  floor  that,  for  the 
exhibition  of  casts  in  delicate  lights,  it  can 
not  be  surpassed  in  any  other  gallery  of  the 
world.  The  second  or  gallery  floor,  where 
the  principal  pictures  are  hung,  under  the 
great  glass  roof,  is  supported  by  Doric 
columns  of  Indiana  limestone,  above  which 
are  Ionic  columns  supporting  the  roof. 
On  this  floor  are  also  four  gallery  rooms, 
sixty-one  feet  by  twenty-eight,  and  numer¬ 
ous  small  rooms  for  the  exhibition  of 
water-colors  and  objects  of  art.  On  the 
New  York  Avenue  side  is  a  semi-circu¬ 
lar  lecture  hall,  with  a  platform  and  rising 
floor  to  the  side  walls,  which,  with  a  good 
skylight,  make  this  room  an  excellent  one 
for  private  exhibitions.  Attached  to  the 
gallery  is  an  art  school,  using  two  -well- 
lighted  rooms  fronting  to  the  north, 
with  accommodations  for  a  large  number 
of  pupils.  It  is  the  intention  to  give 
here  annual  art  exhibitions  of  the  work 
of  local  and  other  American  artists  and  students. 

Among  the  older  and  more  prominent  paintings  in  the  Corcoran  collection  are 
the  following:  “ The  Tornado ”  by  Thomas  Cole,  “The  Watering-Place”  by  Adolphe 
Schreyer,  “  Nedjma-Odalisque ”  by  Gaston  Casimir  Saint  Pierre,  “Edge 
Painting'S.  of  the  Forest”  by  Asher  Brown  Durand,  “The  Vestal  Tuccia”  by 
Hector  Le  Roux,  “Mercy’s  Dream”  by  Daniel  Huntington,  “Niagara 
Falls”  by  Frederick  Edwin  Church,  “Csesar  Dead”  by  Jean  Leon  Gerome,  “On 
the  Coast  of  New  England”  by  William  T.  Richards,  “The  Helping  Hand”  by 
Emile  Renouf,  “The  Death  of  Moses”  by  Alexander  Cabanel,  “Charlotte  Corday 
in  Prison”  by  Charles  Louis  Muller,  “The  Passing  Regiment”  by  Edward  Detaille, 
“Wood  Gatherers”  by  Jean  Baptiste  Camille  Corot,  “The  Forester  at  Home”  by 
Ludwig  Knaus,  “Virgin  and  Child”  by  Murillo,  “Christ  Bound”  by  Van  Dyck, 
“Landscape”  by  George  Inness,  “The  Schism”  by  Jean  George  Vibert,  “The 
Pond  of  the  Great  Oak”  by  Jules  Dupr6,  “A  Hamlet  of  the  Seine  near  Vernon”  by 
Charles  Frangois  Daubigny,  “Landscape,  with  Cattle,”  by  Emile  Van  Marcke, 
“Joan  of  Arc  in  Infancy”  by  Jean  Jacques  Henner,  “The  Banks  of  the  Adige” 
by  Martin  Rico,  “Twilight”  by  Thomas  Alexander  Harrison,  “The  Wedding 
Festival”  by  Eugene  Louis  Gabriel  Isabey,  “The  Approaching  Storm”  by  Narcisse 
Virgile  Diaz  de  la  Pena,  “ Moonlight  in  Holland ”  by  Jean  Charles  Cazin,  “Approach¬ 
ing  Night”  by  Max  Wey,  “Sunset  in  the  Woods”  by  George  Inness,  “El  Bravo 
..-bro”  by  Aime  Nicholas  Morot.  Some  noteworthy  late  additions  are:  “The  Land¬ 
scape  of  Historical  Bladensburg”  (in  1887),  the  “First  Railway  in  New  York”  by 
E.  L.  Henry,  and  Charles  Gutherz’  (Paris,  1894)  great  canvas  of  the  “Bering  Sea 
Arbitration  Court,”  which  is  accompanied  by  an  explanation  and  key  to  the  portraits. 
Recently  added  are  :  J.  G.  Brown’s  large  and  greatly  admired  canvas  “The  Longshore¬ 
man’s  Noon  Hour,”  which  has  the  “Honorable  Mention”  of  the  Paris  Salon;  “The 
Road  to  Concarneau”  by  W.  L.  Picknell,  “  Eventide  ”  by  Robert  C.  Minor,  a  landscape 
by  H.  W.  Ranger,  and  “The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds”  by  Men^*' 


THE  CORCORAN  AND  OTHER  ART  GALLERIES. 


131 


One  room  is  devoted  to 
portraits,  in  which  is  prom¬ 
inently  hung  a  portrait  of 
Mr.  Corcoran,  by  Elliott. 
Around  him  are  grouped 
a  great  num¬ 
ber  of  the  Portraits. 
Presidents 

of  the  United  States  and 
many  famous  Americans, 
making  the  collection  not 
only  interesting  histori¬ 
cally,  but  particularly  val¬ 
uable  as  illustrating  the 
styles  of  most  of  the 
earlier  American  portrait 
painters. 

Of  the  marbles,  Hiram 
Powers’  ‘  ‘  Greek  Slave  ”  is 
perhaps  the 

most  ceie-  Marbles, 
brated.  To 

Vincenzo  Velas’  seated  fig¬ 
ure  of  the  “Last  Days  of 
Napoleon  ”  is  given  special 
prominence  by  its  central 
position  in  the  upper  hall. 
The  exquisite  little  statue 
of  the  weeping  child,  en¬ 
titled  “The  Forced 
Prayer,”  by  Guarnario,  always  brings  a  smile  to  the  face  of  visitors. 

The  Barye  Bronzes  are  especially  notable  as  the  largest  collection  extant  of  the  fine 
animal  figures  and  other  works  of  this  talented  French  modeler ;  they 
number  about  100.  The  small  model  of  the  statue  to  Frederick  the  Bronzcs  and 
Great,  and  the  numerous  electrotypic  reproductions  of  unique  metallic  RcpIicas. 
objects  of  art  preserved  in  European  museums,  are  other  things  that 
the  intelligent  visitor  will  dwell  upon  among  the  wealth  of  beautiful  things  presented 
to  his  view  in  this  art  museum. 

The  Tayloe  Collection  is  a  bequest  from  the  family  of  Benjamin  Ogle  Tayloe,  whose 
richly  furnished  home  is  still  standing  on  Lafayette  Square.  It  consists  of  some  two 
hundred  or  more  objects  of  art,  ornament,  and  curious  interest,  includ¬ 
ing  marbles  by  Powers,  Thorwaldsen,  Greenough,  and  Canova  ;  portraits  TaylOC 

by  Gilbert  Stuart,  Huntington,  and  foreign  artists,  and  many  other  paint-  Collection, 

ings  ;  a  large  number  of  bronze  objects  and  pieces  of  furniture,  including 
Washington’s  card  table  and  other  pieces  that  belonged  to  eminent  men,  and  a  large 
series  of  porcelain,  glass,  ivory,  and  other  objects,  which  are  both  historically  and  artis¬ 
tically  interesting.  A  special  catalogue  for  this  collection  is  sold  at  5  cents. 

The  Waggaman  Gallery  ought  surely  to  be  examined  by  all  culti-  Wag^g^aman 
vated  travelers.  It  is  at  No.  3300  O  Street,  Georgetown,  and  is  easily  Gallery, 
reached  by  either  the  F  Street  or  Pennsylvania  Avenue  street  cars. 

This  gallery  is  the  private  acquisition  of  Mr.  E.  Waggaman,  and  contains  a  large 


132 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


number  of  fine  paintings,  the  specialty  being  Dutch  water-colors,  where  the  Hollandish 
style  and  choice  of  subjects  are  well  exhibited.  The  most  striking  and  valuable  part  of 


the  collection,  how- 
edly  that  represent- 
in  pottery,  stone, 
series  of  tea  jars, 
and  modern  wares, 
and  the  most  highly 
tensive  and  well 
derful  array  of 
work  in  other  met- 
swords,  sword - 
sils  of  various  forms 
decorative  composi- 
enthusiasm  of  con- 
partme  nt.  The 
cabinet,  however, 
jade,  in  which  this 
superiors  ;  among 
cent  plaques  of 
unique  in  the  United 
unsupassed.  A 
ivory  carvings,  teak 
quisite  design,  and 
oriental  art  and 


VENUS  OF  MELOS.  — Cast. 


ever,  is  undoubt¬ 
ing  Japanese  work 
and  metal.  The 
antique  porcelains, 
showing  rare  glazes 
prized  colors,  is  ex- 
chosen;  and  a  won- 
bronzes  and  artistic 
als  in  the  form  of 
guards,  bells,  uten- 
and  capacities,  and 
tions,  excites  the 
noisseurs  in  this  de¬ 
gems  of  this  superb 
are  the  articles  of 
collection  has  few 
which  the  translu- 
carved  jade,  if  not 
States,  are  certainly 
large  number  of 
wood  stands  of  ex- 
other  curiosities  of 
workmanship,  make 


this  gallery  notable. 

Visitors  are  admitted  on  Thursdays  of  each  week  during  January,  February,  March, 
and  April,  between  11  and  4  o’clock,  by  paying  50  cents  for  each  admission  toward  a 
charitable  fund. 


GOVERN^'IENT  PRINTING  OFFIC-  —  North  Capitol  Street,  between  F  and  H  Streets. 


G  STREET  FRO^/l  THE  TREASURY. 


X. 


CHURCHES,  CLUBS,  THEATERS,  ETC. 


Washington  has  a  great  number  of  churches  of  every  denomination  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  city.  Only  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  need  be  mentioned. 
The  oldest  are  Rock  Creek  Church,  near  the  Soldiers’  Home ;  Christ 
Church,  near  the  Navy  Yard,  and  St.  John’s,  on  Lafayette  Square.  All  Episcopal, 
these  are  Episcopal,  and  have  been  elsewhere  described.  Other  prom¬ 
inent  Episcopal  churches  are :  Epiphany  (G  Street,  near  Fourteenth),  which,  like 
several  other  church  societies  in  the  city,  has  a  suburban  chapel;  the  Church  of  the 
Ascension,  at  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street ;  old  St.  John’s,  prominent 
in  Georgetown;  and  St.  James’,  at  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Eighth  Street,  N.  E., 
on  Capitol  Hill,  very  highly  ritualistic.  The  Roman  Catholics  have  many  fine 
churches  and  a  large  influence  in  Washington,  fostered  by  their  universities. 
Their  oldest  church  is  St.  Aloysius,  at  North  Capitol  and  I  Sts. ;  and  St.  Matthew’s, 
Rhode  Island  Avenue  near  Connecticut  Avenue,  is  probably  the  most  fashionable. 
Congregationalism  is  represented  most  prominently  by  the  First  Church,  at  G  and 
Tenth  streets,  which  has  always  been  a  leader  in  religious  philanthropy,  especially 
toward  the  Freedmen.  The  Presbyterian  churches  are  among  the  oldest 
and  largest.  The  leading  one,  perhaps,  is  the  First,  which  remains  in  Presbyterian. 
Four-and-a-half  Street,  and  became  famous  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Byron 
Sunderland,  when  it  was  attended  by  President  Cleveland.  An  ofishoot  from  it 
was  the  New  York  Avenue  Church,  whose  big  house  is  so  conspicuous  in  the  angle 
between  that  avenue  and  H  St.  at  Thirteenth  St.  Out  of  this  has  sprung  the  Gurley 
Memorial,  near  Seventh  Street  and  the  Boundary ;  and  the  Church  of  the  Covenant, 
whose  great  square  tower  is  a  conspieuous  ornament  on  Connecticut  Avenue.  Well- 

known  Methodist  churches 
are  the  Metropolitan  Mem¬ 
orial,  down  in  Four-and- 
a  half  Street ;  the  Foundry 
Church,  at  Sixteenth  and 
Church  Streets,  which  Pres  ■ 
ident  Hayes  attended;  and 
the  Hamline,  at  Ninth  and 
P  streets.  A  leading  Bap¬ 
tist  church  is  Calvary,  at 
Eighth  and  H  streets. 

The  Swedenborgians 
have  a  white  stone  build¬ 
ing  at  Cor¬ 
coran  and  Other  De- 
Sixteenth  nominations, 
streets ;  and 

the  Unitarians,  the  well- 
known  Church  of  All  Souls, 


135 


136 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


at  Fourteenth  and  L  streets.  The  Universalist  meeting-liouse  is  at  L  and  Thir¬ 
teenth  streets.  Tiie  “  Ciiristian ''  Society,  of  wiiich  President  Garfield  was  a  mem¬ 
ber,  worships  in  its  Memorial  Church  on  Vermont  Avenue,  between  N  and 
O  streets.  The  Lutheran  Memorial  Church,  on  Thomas  Circle,  is  foremost  in  that 
denomination,  and  the  service  is  in  English.  Colored  churches  are  numerous, 
chiefly  Methodist  and  Baptist ;  in  the  former  the  strongest  is  Asbury,  at  Eleventh 
and  K  streets,  and  in  the  latter  the  Abyssinian,  at  Vermont  Avenue  and  R  Street. 

The  theaters  in  Washington  attract  the  finest  traveling  companies,  including 
occasional  grand  opera.  The  newest  and  most  ornate  house  is  the  Belasco  Theater, 
occupying  a  historic  site  on  Madison  Place,  Lafayette  Square.  Another 
Theaters  large  theater  is  Chase’s  Grand  Opera  House,  on  Pennsylvania 

and  the  Avenue,  near  Fifteenth  Street,  now  devoted  to  vaudeville. 

Opera.  The  new  National  Theater,  on  Pennsylvania  avenue,  between 

Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Streets,  is  of  great  capacity  and  com¬ 
fort,  and  holds  the  popularity  it  gained  long  ago.  The  Academy  of  ]Miisic  is 


another  well-known 
house,  at  Ninth  and 
D  streets.  The  Col¬ 
umbia  is  the  newest 
addition  to  the  com¬ 
mendable  theaters. 
It  is  at  1112  F  Street, 
occupying  what  for¬ 
merly  was  Metzer  tt 
Hall.  Kernan’s  Ly¬ 
ceum,  at  1014  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Avenue, 
and  Majestic  give 
variety  shows. 

Certain  churches 
are  the  principal 
places  for  lectures 
and  the  like,  but 
scientific  lectures  are 
usually  heard  in  the 
hall  at  the  National 
Museum,  or  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the 
Cosmos  C^ub. 

Convention  Hall 
is  an  immense  arched 
apartment  over  a 
market  where  New 
York  Avenue  crosses 
L  and  Fifth  streets, 
and  is  intended  for 
the  use  of  conven¬ 
tions. 

The  clubs  of  the 
capital  are  not  among 
its  “sights,”  but 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  COVENANT. 
Southtast  Corner  Eighteenth  and  N  Streets,  N.  V/. 


137 


CHTJRCHES,  CLUBS,  THEATERS,  ETC. 

. 

should  receive  a  few  words.  Most  prominent  among  them  is  the  Metropolitan, 
characterized  elsewhere.  Next  in  social  importance,  probably,  is  the  Army  and 
Navy,  which  has  a  handsome  six-story  building  opposite  the  south¬ 
eastern  corner  of  Farragut  Square.  Its  triangular  lot  has  enabled  Army  and 
the  architect  to  make  a  serit-s  of  very  charming  principal  rooms,  in  Navy  Club, 
the  northwestern  front,  where  the  sunshine  streams  in  nearly  all 
day.  These  and  the  many  connecting  apartments  are  luxuriously  furnished  and 
adorned  with  pictures,  including  original  portraits  of  a  dozen  or  more  of  the 
principal  commanders  of  the  army  and  navy,  from  Paul  Jones  to  W.  T.  Sherman. 
Only  those  identified  with  some  military  organization  are  eligible  to  membership, 
but  the  club  is  very  liberal  in  extending  a  welcome  to  visiting  militiamen,  foreign 
military  men,  and  others  suitably  introduced.  One  feature  of  this  club  is  the 
informal  professional  lecture  given  to  the  members  once  a  month  by  some  expert. 

The  Cosmos  Club  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere  ;  the  Columbia  Athletic  Club  is  a 
large  association  of  young  men,  partly  social  and  partly  athletic,  which  has  a  field  in 
the  gardens  of  the  old  Van  Ness  mansion.  The  Country  Club,  near 
Tenallytown,  and  the  Chevy  Chase  Club,  have  already  been  mentioned.  I'linOf  Clubs. 
Allied  to  them,  within  the  city,  are  several  clubs  of  amateur  photog¬ 
raphers,  golf  players,  bicycle  riders,  tennis  and  ball  players,  and  boatmen,  Washing¬ 
ton  being  a  place  famous  for  oarsmen.  The  two  women’s  clubs  must  not  be  for¬ 
gotten  :  One  is  the  fashionable  Washington  Club,  on  H  Street,  opposite  the  French 
Embassy,  and  the  other  the  Working  Women’s  Club,  a  purely  social  organization, 
at  606  Eleventh  Street,  composed  of  women  who  earn  their  living  —  physicians, 
journalists,  stenographers,  etc.  Both  these  clubs  give  teas,  musicales,  and  other 
feminine  entertainments.  The  Alibi  is  a  coterie  of  well-fed  gentlemen  who  give 
charming  feasts,  largely  of  their  own  cooking,  and  cultivate  a  refined  Bohemianism  ; 
while  the  Gridiron  is  a  dining-club  of  newspaper  men,  who  have  a  jolly  dinner 
among  themselves  once  a  month,  and  an  annual  spread  to  which  all  the  great  men 
available  are  invited,  and  where  most  of  them  are  good-naturedly  guyed. 

The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  flourishes  here  —  and  in  1898  took  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  fine  house  and  gymnasium  built  by  the  Columbia  Athletic  Club  on  G 
Street  near  Nineteenth. 


VIKW  OF  DUFON'r  CIRCLE 


XI. 


OFFICIAL  ETIQUETTE  AT  THE  CAPITAL. 


Washington  society  is  distinguished  from  that  of  other  cities  mainly  by  its  semi¬ 
official  character,  and  in  a  manner  that  is  not  reproduced  in  any  other  capital  the  world 
over.  The  official  etiquette  which  surrounds  its  social  observances  is 
simple,  and,  although  new  conditions  have  tended  to  make  some  part  Local 

of  the  code  complex  to  those  who  would  wish  to  see  its  rules  as  clearly  Society 

defined  as  constitutional  amendments,  the  most  important  of  its  cus-  Features, 
toms  have  become  laws  which  are  generally  accepted.  The  ever- 
changing  personality  of  the  heads  of  the  executive  branches  of  the  Government,  and 
of  the  law-makers  themselves,  together  with  that  innate  hatred  for  anything  partak¬ 
ing  too  much  of  court  ceremonial,  precedence,  etc.,  which  is  strong  in  the  average 
American,  were  good  enough  reasons  for  the  last  generation  in  leaving  these  questions 
unsettled,  and  will  in  all  probability  even  better  answer  the  bustling  spirit  of  the 
present  actors  upon  the  social  stage.  To  the  stranger  who  wishes  to  meet  persons  of 
national  prominence  at  official  gatherings,  and  to  catch,  besides,  a  glimpse  of  that 
plant  of  slower  and  more  substantial  growth  —  residential  society —  the  path  can  be 
made  very  easy  and  the  way  clear. 

The  President,  as  the  head  of  the  nation,  is  entitled  to  first  place  whenever  he 
mingles  in  social  life.  Whether  the  second  place  belongs  to  the  Vice-President  or  to 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  not  been  defined  any 
clearer  than  whether  the  Speaker  of  the  House  is  entitled  to  precedence  Formalities 
over  members  of  the  Cabinet.  In  the  popular  mind,  the  second  place  is  at  the  White 
accorded  the  Vice-President  by  virtue  of  his  right  of  succession  to  the  HoUSe. 

highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  by  the  death,  resignation,  or  dis¬ 
ability  of  the  President.  Since  the  passage  of  the  Presidential  Succession  bill  (Janu¬ 
ary  19, 1886),  the  Cabinet  is  given  precedence  over  the  Speaker  by  the  same  process 
of  reasoning. 

The  official  social  season  extends  from  New  Year  to  Ash  Wednesday,  the  first  day 
of  Lent.  All  the  formal  hospitalities  at  the  Executive  Mansion  occur 
within  this  period.  On  New  Year’s  the  President  holds  a  reception.  Official 
which  begins  at  11  o’clock  and  closes  at  2  p.m.  The  Vice-President  and  Season, 
the  Cabinet  are  first  received  and  then  the  Diplomatic  Corps ;  after  that 
body,  the  Supreme  Court,  Senators  and  Members  of  Congress,  officers  of  the  army 
and  navy,  department  chiefs,  etc.  The  last  hour  is  given  to  the  public. 

During  the  season  three  or  more  card  receptions  (known  in  the  ea^’ly  days  of 
White  House  entertaining  as  “levees”)  are  held  evenings  —  9  to  11. 

The  first  is  in  honor  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  the  others  for  the  Card 

Judiciary,  the  Congress,  and  the  Army,  Navy  and  Marine  Corps.  Invi-  Rcccption. 

tations  are  sent  to  those  named,  to  other  officials  of  the  executive  and 
legislative  departments,  and  to  acquaintances  of  the  President  and  family  among 
residents  of  the  capital  and  other  cities.  Diplomats  wear  either  court  or  military 
uniforms  and  officers  of  the  three  branches  of  the  service  also  appear  in  uniforms. 
Guests  unknown  to  the  doorkeepers  should  be  prepared  to  show  invitations.  The 

189 


140 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


last  reception  of  the  series  is  for  tlie  public.  Advance  notice  is  given  in  the 
daily  papers  of  the  date. 

The  President  is  assisted  on  these  occasions  by  his  wife,  the  wife  of  the  Vice- 
President,  and  the  Cabinet  ladies.  Having  laid  aside  their  wraps,  several  hundred 
persons  are  usually  assembled  in  the  main  corridor  when  the 

Reception  President  and  wife  and  the  receiving  party  descend  to  the  Blue 
Ceremony.  Room,  where  these  receptions  are  held.  Guests  approach  the 

Blue  Room  through  the  Red  Room.  Each  person  announces  his  or 
her  name  to  the  usher,  who  stands  at  the  threshold  of  the  Blue  Room.  He  repeats 

it  to  the  army  officer  who  stands  next  to  the  President  and  who  presents  each 

person  to  him.  The  President  always  shakes  hands.  Another  army  officer  stand¬ 
ing  in  front  of  the  President’s  wife  repeats  each  name  to  her.  The  ladies  assisting 
shake  hands  with  each  person  who  offers  a  hand  to  them.  A  knowledge  of  this 
fact  on  the  part  of  strangers  will  avoid  mutual  embarrassment.  Some  ladies  in  the 
ultra-fashionable  set  make  deep  courtesies  to  each  person  instead  of  shaking  hands, 
when  going  down  the  line  at  these  receptions,  but  the  custom  has  not  grown  in 
favor.  If  not  invited  to  join  those  back  of  the  line,  guests  pass  through  the 
Green  to  the  East  Room.  In  this  stately  apartment  the  gathering  assumes  its  most 
brilliant  aspect. 

In  the  case  of  a  public  reception,  persons  approach  the  White  House  by  the 
west  gate  and  a  line  is  formed,  which  frequently  extends  as  far  west  as  Seventeenth 
Street,  those  coming  last  taking  their  places  at  the  end.  After  the 
Public  threshold  of  the  White  House  is  crossed,  the  line  is  a  single  file  through 

Receptions,  the  vestibule,  the  corridor,  and  the  Red  Room  to  the  Blue  Room.  As 
in  the  case  of  a  guest  at  a  card  reception,  each  person  announces  his  or 
her  name  to  the  usher,  by  whom  it  is  repeated  to  the  army  officer  who  makes  the  pre¬ 
sentations  to  the  President.  These  rules  are  also  observed  when  the  wife  of  the 
President  holds  a  public  reception. 

The  state  dinners  alternate  with  the  levees.  The  first  dinner  is  given  in  honor  of 
the  Cabinet,  the  second  in  honor  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  the  third  in  honor  of  the 
Judiciary.  The  President  and  his  wife  receive  their  guests  in  the  East 
Dinner  Room,  an  army  officer  making  the  presentations.  When  the  butler 

rormaiities.  announces  dinner,  the  President  gives  his  arm  to  the  lady  whose  hus¬ 
band’s  official  position  entitles  her  to  precedence  and  leads  the  way  to 
the  state  dining-room.  If  a  dinner  of  more  than  forty  covers  is  given,  the  table  is 
laid  in  the  corridor. 

An  invitation  to  dine  with  the  President  may  not  be  declined,  excepting  where 
serious  reasons  can  be  stated  in  the  note  of  regret.  A  prior  engagement  is  not  con¬ 
sidered  a  sufficient  reason,  and,  in  fact,  nothing  less  than  personal  ill-health,  or  seri¬ 
ous  illness,  or  a  death  in  one’s  family  would  excuse  one  from  obedience  to  a  summons 
to  the  table  of  the  President. 

In  conversation,  the  Chief  Executive  is  addressed  as  “  Mr.  President.”  In  writing 
as  “  The  President  of  the  United  States.” 

The  wife  of  the  President  enjoys  the  same  privileges  as  her  husband.  She  receives 
first  cal’s  from  all  and  returns  no  visits.  Persons  desiring  an  interview  with  her 
express  their  wish  by  letter. 

As  the  President  and  wife  may  or  may  not  make  calls,  so  it  is  entirely  at 
their  option  whether  or  not  they  accept  invitations.  For  the  last  ten  years  the 
Cabinet  circle  has  been  the  limit,  but  previous  to  that  the  Presidents  accepted 
hospitalities  generally.  Under  no  circumstances,  however,  will  either  the  President 


OFFICIAL  ETIQUETTE  AT  THE  CAPITAL. 


141 


or  his  wife  cross  the  threshold  of  any  foreign  embassy  or  legation,  although  mem¬ 
bers  of  their  family  may  do  so. 

The  hours  for  the  reception  of  visitors  at  the  Executive  Mansion  President’s 

change  with  each  administration.  The  house  rules  are  always  posted  Hours. 

conspicuously  at  the  entrance.  Those  having  business  with  the  Presi¬ 
dent  arrange  for  interviews  with  his  private  secretary,  whose  proper  title  is  Secretary 
to  the  President. 

The  Vice  President  and  wife  make  only  first  calls  on  the  President  and  wife. 
They  enjoy  the  same  immunity  from  returning  calls.  The  same  courtesy  which 
recognizes  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  as  in  the  official  family  of  the 
President,  includes  the  Senatorial  circle  in  the  official  family  of  the  Yice- 

Vice-President.  The  Vice-President  and  wife,  therefore,  return  Sena-  President, 

torial  calls.  They  receive  on  New  Year’s  at  their  own  residence,  first 
official  callers  and  then  the  public.  Throughout  the  season,  the  wife  of  the  Vice- 
President  receives  callers  on  Wednesday  afternoons  from  3  to  5.  In  conversation,  the 
Vice-President  is  addressed  as  “Mr.  Vice-President.” 

The  wife  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  receives  on  Wednesday, 
at  the  same  hours  as  the  Cabinet  ladies.  The  Speaker  is  addressed  as  “  Mr.  Speaker.” 

The  relative  precedence  of  Cabinet  officers  has  been  established  by  the  wording 
of  the  Presidential  Succession  bill.  It  is  as  follows:  The  Secretary  of  State,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Attorney-General, 
the  Postmaster-General,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  Secretary  of  the  Cabinet 
Interior,  and  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  The  official  designation.  Precedence, 

preceded  by  the  phrase,  “The  Honorable - ”  is  the  correct  form  in 

writing  to  any  one  of  them.  In  conversation,  a  Cabinet  officer  is  addressed  as 
“Mr.  Secretary.” 

The  Cabinet  ladies  receive  the  public  on  stated  Wednesday  afternoons,  during  the 
season,  from  3  to  5.  The  name  of  each  guest  is  announced  by  the  butler  as  the  hostess 
is  approached.  Each  hostess  is  usually  assisted,  in  these  formal  hospitalities,  by  a 
number  of  ladies  —  young  girls  predominating.  They  are  expected  to  address  visitors 
and  to  make  their  stay  pleasant.  Callers,  except  under  exceptional  cir¬ 
cumstances,  do  not  extend  their  stay  over  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  and  it  Cabinet 
is  not  necessary  that  any  good-bys  should  be  exchanged  with  the  host-  Receptions, 
ess  when  leaving.  As  these  receptions  are  frequently  attended  by  from 
four  to  eight  hundred  people,  who  for  the  most  part  are  strangers,  the  reason  for  the 
slight  disregard  of  the  usual  polite  form  is  obvious.  No  refreshments  are  now  offered, 
which  is  also  a  change  from  the  custom  which  prevailed  several  years  ago.  Visitors 
leave  cards. 

Callers  wear  ordinary  visiting  dress.  The  hostess  and  assistants  wear  high-necked 
gowns,  however  elaborate  their  material  and  make.  This  fact  is  mentioned  because 
a  few  years  ago  the  reverse  was  the  case,  and  low-necked  evening  dresses  were  gen¬ 
erally  worn  by  the  receiving  party  at  afternoon  receptions.  At  that  period  also,  men 
frequently  appeared  on  such  occasions  in  full-dress  evening  suits,  swallow-tail  coats, 
etc.  In  fact,  full-dress  on  both  men  and  women  was  not  unusual  at  the  President’s 
New  Year  reception,  a  dozen  years  ago,  under  the  impression  then 
current  that  street  clothes  were  not  in  keeping  with  a  function  second  to  Rules  for 

none  in  point  of  ceremony  from  our  standpoint,  and  which  was  attended  DfCSS. 

by  the  Diplomatic  Corps  in  court  dress  or  in  dazzling  military  or  naval 
uniforms.  Customs  in  these  matters  have  changed  so  entirely  that  a  violation  of  the 
accepted  fasiiion  makes  of  the  offender  a  subject  for  ridicule.  The  proper  costume 
for  a  woman  to  wear  to  the  President’s  New  Year  reception  is  her  best  visiting  dress 


142 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


with  bonnet  or  hat,  the  same  that  she  would  wear  at  an  afternoon  reception.  A  man 
will  dress  for  the  President’s  New  Year  reception  as  he  will  for  any  other  ceremoni¬ 
ous  daylight  event.  Neither  low-necked  gowns  nor  dress  suits  are  permissible  until 
after  6  o’clock. 

The  same  proprieties  of  modern  custom  in  dress  should  be  observed  when  attend¬ 
ing  evening  receptions  at  the  White  House  or  elsewhere.  Evening  dress  is  impera¬ 
tive,  which,  in  the  case  of  women,  may  mean  as  elaborate  or  as  simple  a  toilet  as  the 
wearer  may  select,  but  it  implies  an  uncovered  head.  Bonnets  or  hats  must  not  be 
worn. 

By  a  rule  adopted  during  the  first  Cleveland  administration,  the  Cabinet  ladies  do 
not  return  calls  generally,  but  do  send  their  cards  once  or  twice  each  season  as  an 
acknowledgment.  The  Cabinet  ladies  make  the  first  call  upon  the  ladies  of  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  circle,  the  families  of  Senators,  and  the  families  of  foreign  ambassadors. 

Certain  days  of  the  week  are  set  apart  by  custom  for  making  calls  upon  particular 
groups,  and  no  mistake  should  be  made  in  this  respect.  The  ladies  of  the  Supreme 
Court  families  receive  callers  on  Monday  afternoons.  Congressional 
Calling:  families  on  Tuesdays,  the  Cabinet  families  on  Wednesdays,  and  the 

Days.  Senatorial  families  on  Thursdays,  with  the  exception  of  those  residing 

on  Capitol  Hill,  who  observe  the  day  of  that  section,  which  is  Monday. 
By  virtue  of  another  old  custom,  Tuesday  is  K  Street  day ;  Thursday  calling  day  for 
upper  H  and  I  streets ;  Friday  for  residents  of  upper  F  and  G  streets,  and  Saturday  for 
Connecticut  Avenue  and  vicinity.  Calling  hours  are  from  3  to  6. 

The  discussion  which  has  been  going  on  for  years,  and  is  now  as  far  from  settle¬ 
ment  as  ever,  as  to  whether  Supreme  Court  Justices  and  families  pay  the  first  call  to 
Senators  and  families,  or  vice  versa,  is  only  of  interest  to  the  stranger  as  a  phase  of 
Washington  life  showing  the  grave  importance  given  to  these  points  by  some  official 
households  and  of  the  absolute  indifference  with  which  they  are  viewed  by  others. 

The  Diplomatic  Corps  consists  of  six  ambassadors,  representing  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  Russia,  and  Mexico,  and  twenty-five  ministers  plenipotentiary, 
of  which  a  circumstantial  list  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book.  They  are  ranked 
in  the  order  of  their  seniority.  Each  embassy  and  legation  has  a  corps 
Social  of  secretaries  and  attaches.  The  British  Ambassador  is  dean  of  the 

Rules  in  corps,  having  been  the  first  ambassador  appointed.  Official  etiquette 

Diplomatic  as  regards  the  corps  has  changed  since  the  coming  of  ambassadors. 

Corps.  Ambassadors  are  given  precedence  by  ministers.  By  virtue  of  long- 

established  custom,  to  quote  Thomas  Jefferson,  “foreign  ministers,  from 
the  necessity  of  making  themselves  known,  pay  the  first  visit  to  the  ministers  of  the 
nation,  which  is  returned.”  Ambassadors  claim  that  they  only  call  on  the  President 
because  that  is  the  habit  of  European  countries.  It  is  generally  understood  that  all 
persons,  official  or  otherwise,  pay  the  first  call  to  the  embassies.  The  ladies  of  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  have  no  special  day  on  which  to  receive  callers,  each  household 
making  its  own  rules  in  this  respect- 


XII. 


STKEETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES. 


The  only  residence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  Washington,  is  the 
Executive  Mansion;  but  that  is  rather  more  uncomfortable  than  the  average  Washington 
house  in  midsummer,  and  all  the  later  Presidents  have  been  accustomed 
to  seek  a  country  home  during  hot  weather.  President  Lincoln  used  to  President, 
live  in  a  cottage  at  the  Soldiers’  Home;  President  Grant  spent  one  sum¬ 
mer  in  the  same  house,  and  President  Hayes  occupied  it  every  summer  during  his  term. 

The  Secretary  of  State  lives  at  No.  1527  K  Street,  N.  W.;  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  at  No.  2600  Sixteenth  Street;  the  Secretary  of  War  at 
No.  1810  Connecticut  Avenue;  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  at  No.  Cabinet. 

1301  Sixteenth  Street,  N.  W. ;  the  Attorney-General  at  1312  Six¬ 
teenth  Street*  the  Postmaster-General  at  The  Connecticut;  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  at  The  Shoreham;  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  at  The  Portland;  and  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  at  No.  1731  K  Street,  N.  W. 

Mr.  Chief  Justice  White  resides  at  1717  Rhode  Island  Avenue;  Mr.  Justice  Harlan, 
14th  and  Euclid  Sts.;  Mr,  Justice  McKenna  at  The  Connecticut; 

Mr.  Justice  Holmes  at  No.  1720  I  St. ,  N.  W. ;  Mr.  Justice  Day  at  1301  Justices. 

Clifton  Street,  N.  W. ;  Mr.  J ustice  Hughes  at  No.  2401  Massachusetts 
Avenue,  N,  W.;  Mr.  Justice  Van  Deventer  at  No.  1923  Sixteenth  Street;  Mr.  Justice 
Lurton  at  No.  1721  H  Street;  Mr.  Justice  Lamar  at  2419  Massachusetts  Avenue. 

\/  Lafayette  Square  was  the  name  selected  by  Washington  himself  for  the  square  in 
front  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  for  which  he  foresaw  great  possibilities ;  but  it 
remained  a  bare  parade  ground,  with  an  oval  race  course  at  its  west 
end,  until  after  the  disastrous  days  of  1814.  Then,  when  the  White  Lafayette 

House  had  been  rehabilitated,  a  beginning  was  made  by  President  Square. 
Jefferson,  who  cut  off  the  ends  down  to  the  present  limits  (Madison 
Place  and  Jackson  Place),  and  caused  the  trees  to  be  planted.  No  doubt  he  had  a 
voice  in  placing  there,  in  1816,  St.  John’s  —  the  quaint  Episcopal  church  on  the 
northern  side  —  the  first  building  on  the  square.  Madison,  certainly,  was  greatly 
interested  in  it,  and  it  became  a  sort  of  court  church,  for  all  the  Presidents  attended 
worship  there,  as  a  matter  of  course,  down  to  Lincoln’s  time,  and  President  Arthur 
since.  Its  interior  is  very  interesting. 

Lafayette  Square  is  now,  perhaps,  the  pleasantest  place  to  sit  on  a  summer  morn¬ 
ing  or  evening  among  all  the  outdoor  loitering  places  in  this  pleasant  city.  The 
trees  have  grown  large,  the  shrubbery  is  handsome  —  particularly  that  pyramid  of 
evergreens  on  the  south  side — and  great  care  is  taken  with  the  flowerbeds;  and 
finally,  you  may  see  all  the  world  pass  by,  for  this  park  is  surrounded  more  or  less 
remotely  by  the  homes  of  the  most  distinguished  persons  in  AVasbington. 

/  Two  noteworthy  statues  belong  to  this  park.  One  is  the  familiar  equestrian  statue 
/of  General  and  President  Andrew  Jackson,  which  is  the  work  of  Clark  Mills,  and  prob¬ 
ably  pleases  the  populace  more  than  any  other  statue  in  Washington,  but  is  ridiculed 
by  the  critics,  who  liken  it  to  a  tin  soldier  balancing  himself  on  a  rocking-horse. 

143 


144  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


tion.  the  LAFAYETTE  MEMORIAL  IN  LAFAYETTE  SQUARE. 

The  Memorial  to  Lafayette,  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  park,  is  a  very  diflferent 
affair,  and  more  in  the  nature  of  a  monument  erected  by  Congress  to  the  services  of 
the  noble  Fienchmen  who  lent  us  their  assistance  in  the  Revolutionary 
Lafayette  War.  Upon  a  lofty  and  handsome  pedestal  stands  a  heroic  bronze 

Memorial.  figure  of  the  Manpiis  de  Lafayette,  in  the  uniform  of  a  Continental 

general ;  while  nearer  the  base,  at  the  sides,  are  statues  of  Rochambeau 
and  Duportail,  of  the  French  army,  and  D’Estaing  and  De  Grasse  of  the  navy.  In 
front  is  “  America  ”  holding  up  a  sword  to  Lafayette.  This  work  is  exceedingly 
vigorous  and  is  after  models  by  two  eminent  French  sculptors,  Falguiere  and  Mercie. 
Total  cost,  $50,000. 

Site  of  Starting  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  aiul  walking  north  on  Madison  Place 

Lafayette  (Fifteen-and-one-half  Street),  the  new  Belasco  Theater  is  immediately 

Square  encountered,  standing  upon  a  famous  site.  The  tall,  brick  house  which 

Opera  House,  it  displaced  was  originally  built  by  Commodore  Rogers,  but  soon  became 
the  elite  boarding-house  of  Washington,  and  numbered  among  its  guests 
John  Adams;  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  fiery  South  Carolinian,  while  IVIonroe’s  Secretary  of 


It  was  cast  at  Bla- 
densburg  by  Mills 
himsel  f 
Jackson  who  was 

Statue.  given 

cannon 
captured  in  Jackson’s 
campaigns  for  mate¬ 
rial,  set  up  a  furnace, 
and  made  the  fi  rst  suc¬ 
cessful  large  bronze 
casting  in  America. 
Another  interesting 
fact  about  this  statue 
is  that  the  center  of 
gravity  is  so  disposed, 
by  throwing  the 
weight  into  the  hind 
quarters,  that  the 
horse  stands  poised 
upon  i*s  hind  legs 
without  any  support 
or  the  aid  of  any 
rivets  fastening  it  to 
the  pedestal.  This 
statue  was  erected  in 
1853,  and  unveiled  on 
the  thirty -eighth  an¬ 
niversary  of  the  bat¬ 
tle  of  New  Orleans. 
Its  cost  was  $50,000, 
part  of  which  was 
paid  by  the  Jackson 
Monument  Associa- 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES. 


145 


War  and  Jackson’s  Vice-President;  and  Henry  Clay,  when  he  was  Adams’  Secretary  of 
State.  Then  it  became  the  property  of  the  Washington  Club,  and  there  assembled  the 
rich  and  influential  young  men  of  the  capital;  Sickles  and  Key  were  both  members,  and 
the  tragedy  which  associates  their  names  took  place  in  front  of  its  door;  later  it  became 
the  residence  of  Secretary  Seward,  and  there  the  deadly  assault  was  made  upon  him  by 
the  assassin,  Payne,  at  the  time  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  in  1865.  Its  next  dis¬ 
tinguished  occupant  was  James  G.  Blaine,  Secretary  of  State  in  the  Harrison  administra¬ 
tion,  and  there  he  died. 

The  flne  yellow  Colonial  house  next  beyond,  now  occupied  by  the  family  of  the  late 
Senator  Hanna  of  Ohio,  was  formerly  owned  and  occupied  by  Ogle  Tayloe,  son  of  John 
Tayloe,  of  the  Octagon  House  and  Mount  Airy,  Virginia,  who  was  in  the 
early  diplomatic  service,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished  Americans  of  TaylOC 

his  day.  All  of  his  rare  and  costly  pictures,  ornaments,  and  curios,  HOUSC. 

including  much  that  had  belonged  to  Commodore  Decatur,  passed  into 
possession  of  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery.  A  later  occupant  was  Admiral  Paulding, 
a  son  of  John  Paulding,  one  of  the  captors  of  Andre,  who  suppressed  Walker’s 
filibusters  in  Nicaragua.  Lily  Hammersley,  now  dowager  Duchess  of  Marlborough, 
was  born  there,  and  some  of  the  most  brilliant  entertainments  ever  given  in  Washing¬ 
ton  have  been  under  its  roof.  One  of  its  latest  occupants  was  Vice-President  Hobart. 
In  the  next  two  houses  have  lived  Secretary  Windom,  Senator  Fenton,  and  Robert 
G.  Ingersoll. 

The  gray,  mastic-stuccoed  h'.use  on  the  corn^  r  of  H  Street,  now  the 
Cosmos  Clubhouse,  has  also  known  many  celebrated  characters.  It  IMadison 

was  built  about  1825,  by  Richard  Cutts,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  HoUSC. 

brilliant  and  versatile  “  Dolly  ”  Madison,  the  wife  of  President  Madi¬ 
son.  It  came  into  Mr.  Madi-on’s  possession  just  before  his  death,  some  twenty  years 
later,  and  thither  his  wife,  no  longer 
young,  but  still  beautiful  and  witty,  held 
court  during  her  declining  years.  After 
Mrs.  Madison’s  death  this  house  was 
occupied  by  such  tenants  as  Attorn ^  y- 
General  Crittenden ;  Senator  William 
C.  Preston,  afterward  a  Confederate 
Brigadier ;  and  Commodore  Wilkes, 
commander  of  the  celebrated  exploring 
expedition,  who,  in  1861,  was  required 
to  take  his  quondam  near  neighbor, 

Slidell,  from  the  British  steamer  Trent. 

He  gave  it  up  when  the  Civil  War  broke 
out,  and  was  follow^ed  by  Gen.  George 
B.  McClellan,  who  established  here  the 
headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto¬ 
mac.  “A  sight  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  those  days,”  remarks  Mrs.  Lockwood, 

“was  the  General  with  his  chief  of  staff. 

General  Marcy,  his  aids.  Count  de  Char¬ 
tres  and  Comte  de  Paris,  with  Prince  de 
Joinville  at  their  side,  in  full  military 
costume,  mounted,  ready  to  gallop  ofi 
over  the  Potomac  hills.”  Now  its  halls, 
remodeled  and  extended,  are  trodden 


STATUE  OF  PRESIDENT  ANDREW  JACKSON. 
By  Clark  Mills. 


146 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


by  the  feet  of  men  the  most  famous  in  the  country  as  the  investigators  and  devel* 
opers  of  scientific  truth. 

Diagonally  opposite  the  Cosmos  Club,  on  H  Street,  is  the  square  brick  Sumner 
House,  now  a  part  of  the  Arlington.  Where  the  main  body  of  the  Arlington  Hotel 
now  stands,  there  were  three  stately  residences.  One  was  occupied 
Sumner  by  William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Polk,  and  Sec- 

House.  retary  of  State  under  President  Pierce ;  and  when  he  retired,  he  was 

succeeded  in  this  and  the  adjoining  house  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
under  Buchanan,  Lewis  Cass,  who,  like  Marcy,  had  previously  held  the  war  portfolio. 
In  the  third  mansion  dwelt  Reverdy  Johnson,  minister  to  England  ;  and  there 
Presidents  Buchanan  and  Harrison  were  entertained  prior  to  their  inauguration ; 
and  there  Patti,  Henry  Irving,  President  Diaz  of  Mexico,  King  Kalakaua,  Dom 
Pedro,  and  Boulanger  found  seclusion. 

The  great  double  mansion  adjoining  the  Sumner  and  Pomeroy  residence  (united  as 
the  H-street  front  of  the  hotel)  was  built  by  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clarke,  long  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  afterward  became  the  British  Legation.  Here  lived  Sir 
Bulwer  Lytton,  and  his  not  less  famous  son  and  secretary,  “Owen  Meredith/’  now  Lord 
Lytton,who  is  supposed  to  have  written  here  his  most  celebrated  poem,“Lucile.”  In  later 
years  the  house  was  occupied  by  Lord  Ashburton,  who,  with  Daniel  Webster,  drafted 
the  “Ashburton  treaty,”  which  defined  our  Canadian  boundary.  A  still  later  occu¬ 
pant  was  John  Nelson,  Attorney-General  in  Tyler’s  Cabinet;  and  it  is  now  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  Freeman.  On  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street  is  St.  John’s  Episcopal 
Church ;  and,  passing  for  the  present  other  newer  residences,  another  old  landmark 
calls  for  special  attention.  This  is  the  Det  atur  House,  facing  the  square 
Decatur  on  Seventeenth  Street,  at  the  corner  of  H,  and  easily  recognized  by  its 

House.  pyramidal  slate  roof.  This,  which  w'as  the  first  private  residence  on  the 

square,  was  constructed  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812,  by  Commander 
Stephen  Decatur,  the  hero  of  Tripoli,  and  one  of  the  most  popular  men  of  the  time. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  maxim  —  more  patriotic  than  righteous  —  uttered  as  a  toast: 
“My  country  —  may  she  always  be  right;  but  my  country,  right  or  WTong!”  His 
house  was  adorned  with  a  multitude  of  trophies,  gifts  from  foreign  rulers,  and  rare 
knickknacks  picked  up  in  all  parts  of  the  world ;  and  here  he  was  brought  to  die  after 
his  duel  with  Commodore  Barron  in  Bladensburg,  in  1820.  Afterward  it  was  occupied 
by  the  Russian  minister,  and  then  by  Henry  Clay,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State 
under  John  Quincy  Adams.  When  Martin  Van  Buren  succeeded  him,  he  took  this 
house  and  cut  the  window  in  the  south  wall,  in  order  that  he  might  see  the  signals 
displayed  from  the  White  House  by  “Old  Hickory,”  whom  he  worshiped.  He  in 
turn  gave  up  the  house  to  his  successor,  Edward  Livingston,  a  brother  of  Chancellor 
Robert  Livingston  of  New  York,  whose  wife  was  that  Madame  Moreau  whose  wed¬ 
ding  in  New  Orleans  was  so  romantic,  and  whose  daughter  Cora  was  the  reigning  belle 
of  Jackson’s  administration,  as  this  house  was  its  social  center.  Two  or  three  foreign 
ministers  and  several  eminent  citizens  filled  it  in  succession,  and  gave  brilliant  parties 
at  which  Presidents  were  guests,  the  most  recent  of  whom  was  Gen.  E.  F.  Beale, 
under  whose  grandfather  Decatur  had  served  as  midshipman.  General  Beale  died  in 
1894,  and  his  widow  now  dwells  in  this  storied  old  mansion. 

A  few  rods  south,  next  the  alley,  is  another  house  famous  in  the  past.  It  is  one  of 
the  navy  traditions  that  it  was  built  by  Doctor  Ewell  of  that  service, 
Ewell  and  occupied  by  three  Secretaries  of  the  Navy,  one  of  whom  was  the 

House.  talented  Levi  Woodbury;  then  it  was  the  home  of  Senator  Rives  of  Vir¬ 

ginia,  grandfather  of  the  novelist,  Amelie  Rives  (Chandler),  and  after¬ 
ward  of  Gen.  Daniel  Sickles,  whose  tragedy  is  indelibly  associated  with  this  beautiful 


STEEETS,  SQUAEES,  AND  EESIDENCES. 


147 


locality.  Vice-President  Colfax  was  a 
still  later  tenant,  and  then  the  house 
passed  into  possession  of  the  late  Wash¬ 
ington  McLean,  editor  of  the  Cincinnati 
Enquirer,  whose  daughter,  wife  of  Ad¬ 
miral  Ludlow,  now  resides  there. 

In  this  same  row.  No.  22,  the  former 
residence  of  William  M.  Marcy,  Secre¬ 
tary  of  War,  and  afterward  Secretary  of 
State  (1853-57),  is  now  the  home  of  Mrs. 
E.  H.  Townsend,  daughter  of  the  late 
William  L.  Scott  of  Erie,  Pa.  Gen.  J. 
G.  Parke,  who  commanded  the  Fifth 
Army  Corps,  and  was  Chief-of-staff  to 
Burnside,  resides  in  No.  16 ;  and  No.  6  is 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Martha  Eeed,  sister 
of  the  late  Admiral  Dahlgren.  Lovers 
of  trees  will  take  notice  of 
the  row  of  Chinese  gingko  Ging^ko 

trees,  which  shade  the  Trees, 

sidewalk  opposite  this 
row  of  houses,  on  the  western  margin 
of  the  square. 

Fourteenth  Street  will  make  a  good 
starting-point  for  a  ramble  in  search  of 
the  historic,  picturesque,  and  personal 
features  of  Washington’s  streets  and  squares.  It  is  the  great  north-and-south  line  of 
travel,  extending  far  out  into  the  high  northern  suburb  of  Mount 
Pleasant.  Franklin  Square,  between  Fourteenth  and  Thirteenth,  and  Franklin 
I  and  K  streets,  comprises  about  four  acres,  densely  shaded,  and  is  a  Square, 
favorite  place  of  resort  in  summer  evenings.  In  its  center  is  the  spring 
of  excellent  water  from  which  the  White  House  is  supplied,  and  where  there  is 
a  public  drinking  fountain.  The  Franklin  schoolhouse  overlooks  the  square  on 
the  east,  and  the  Hamilton  and  Cochran  hotels  are  just  above  it  on  Fourteenth 
Street.  The  church  on  the  next  corner  (L  Street)  is  All  Souls  (Unitarian),  diagonally 
opposite  which  is  the  Portland.  This  brings  you  to  Thomas  Circle,  in  the  center 
of  which  is  J.  Q.  A.  Ward’s  bronze  statue  of  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  the  “  Eock 
of  Chickamauga  ”  and  hero  of  Nashville,  which  was  erected,  with  great  ceremony, 
in  1879,  by  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  which  paid  $40,000  for 
the  design  and  the  casting.  The  pedestal,  which  bears  the  bronze  in¬ 
signia  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  its  ornamental  lamps  were  Thomas, 
furnished  by  Congress,  at  an  expense  of  $25,000.  The  statue  is  itself 
nineteen  feet  in  height,  and  is  finely  modeled ;  but  many  admirers  of  this  sturdy, 
unassuming  commander  regret  that  in  his  representation  there  is  not  more  man  and 
less  horse. 

Northwest  of  Thomas  Circle,  in  front  of  Lutheran  Memorial  Church,  stands  one  of 
the  most  artistic  statues  in  the  city,  erected  by  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America  to  Martin  Luther.  It  was  cast  in' Germany  from  the  same  Luthcr. 

molds  as  RietscheTs  centerpiece  of  the  celebrated  memorial  at  Wurms, 
and  expresses  the  indomitable  attitude  of  the  great  reformer  on  all  questions  of  con¬ 
science.  This  statue  is  eleven  feet  in  height  and  cost  $10,000. 


EQUESTRIAN  STATUE  OF 
MAJ.-GEN.  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS. 
Thomas  Circle.  J.  Q.  A.  Ward. 


148 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO 'WASHINGTON. 


Fourteenth  Street  above  this  point  has  nothing  of  special  interest,  but  is  a  hand¬ 
some  and  busy  highway;  and  its  extension  on  the  elevated  ground  of  Meridian  Hill, 
north  of  the  city  boundary,  is  rapidly  being  settled  upon  by  important  people.  The 
gray  stone  castle,  surrounded  by  large  grounds,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  the  right,  is 
called  “  Belmont,”  and  belongs  to  A.  L.  Barber,  owner  of  the  Trinidad  asphalt  mines. 
Mrs.  General  Logan  lives  at  Calumet  Place,  two  blocks  east,  on  the  street  north  of 
“  Belmont,”  where  she  has  a  cabinet  of  relics  of  her  famous  husband  which  is  fre¬ 
quently  visited  by  veterans  of  tlie  war.  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  of  the  Supreme  Court 
resides  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  two  blocks  north,  at  Euclid  Place. 

Following  H  Street  from  Fourteenth  westward,  No.  1404,  now  known  as  the  Els- 
mere  Hotel,  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  late  Zachariah  Chandler.  The 
Shoreham  Hotel,  the  Union  Trust  Co.,  and  the  George  Washington  University’’  occupy 
the  other  corners,  the  new  Law  School  of  the  latter  conspicuous  on  H  Street. 

The  George  Washington  University  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best-equipped  schools  of 
higher  learning  at  the  capital.  It  has  a  preparatory  school  and  departments  of  under¬ 
graduate  and  postgraduate  academic  studies;  special  courses  in  science 
George  (Corcoran  Scientific  School),  of  medicine  and  dentistry,  and  of  law.  Its 

Washington  endowments  now  amount  to  about  $1,000,000,  and  its  faculty  and  list  of 
University.  lecturers  include  a  large  number  of  men  in  public  life,  from  certain 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  down.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
Corcoran  Scientific  School,  where  the  lecturers  are  all  men  identified  with  special  inves¬ 
tigations  at  the  Smithsonian,  Geological  Survey,  or  in  some  technical  branches  of  the 
Army  or  Navy.  This  university,  which  was  aided  at  the  beginning  by  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  has  always  had  access  to  and  made  great  use  of  the  libraries  and  museums  which 
bound  here  and  are  of  so  great  educational  value. 

Continuing  our  notes  westward  along  H  Street :  Gen.  Chauncey  McKeever,  U.  S.  A., 
lives  at  No.  1508,  and  on  the  left-hand  corner,  at  Madison  Place,  is  the  Cosmos  Club. 

The  Cosmos  Club  is  a  social  club  of  men  interested  in  science,  of  whom  Washing¬ 
ton  now  contains  a  greater  number,  and,  on  the  average,  a  higher  grade,  than  any 
other  city.  This  is  due  to  the  employment  and  encouragement  given 
Cosmos  Club,  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Agricultural  Department,  Geological 
and  Coast  Survey’^s,  Fish  Commission,  Naval  Observatory^  technical 
departments  of  the  Treasury,  War,  and  Navy  Departments,  and  two  or  three  univer¬ 
sities.  This  club  may  therefore  be  considered  the  intellectual  center  of  the  non¬ 
political  life  of  the  capital,  and  at  any  one  of  its  delightful  Monday  evenings,  half 
a  hundred  men  of  high  attainments  and  wide  reputation  may  be  seen,  and  the 
conversation  heard  is,  in  its  way,  as  interesting  and  inspiring  as  anything  to  be 
listened  to  in  the  land.  The  historic  old  house  has  been  somewhat  modified,  chiefly 
by  the  addition  of  a  large  hall,  which  may  be  shut  off  from  the  remaining  rooms 
and  used  as  a  meeting-room ;  and  there  the  Philosophical,  Biological,  Geographic,  and 
kindred  societies  hold  their  meetings  on  stated  evenings. 

The  Arlington  Hotel,  including  the  former  residences  of  Senators  Sumner  and 
Pomeroy,  is  diagonally  opposite  the  Cosmos;  and  next  beymnd  is  the  “Biilwer 
House,”  and  then  St.  John’s  Episcopal  Church.  All  these  face  Lafayette  Square  and 
have  been  elsewhere  described.  On  the  farther  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street,  opposite 
St.  John’s,  is  the  beautiful  home  of  Col.  John  Hayq  President  McKinley’s  Secretary 
of  State,  the  author  of  “  Little  Breeches,”  and,  with  Mr.  Nicolayq  of  the  principal 
biography  of  Lincoln.  The  yellow  house,  No.  1607,  next  beymnd,  was  built  and  for 
many  years  occupied  by  Com.  Richard  Stockton,  who  added  to  a  glorious  naval  record 
in  the  Mediterranean  and  West  Indies  the  establishment  of  American  rule  in  Cali¬ 
fornia  in  1845.  Later  it  was  tenanted  by  Slidell,  w’ho,  with  Mason,  was  sent  by  the 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES. 


149 


Confederate  government  to  England  as  a  commissioner,  but  was  captured  on  the  Trent 
by  his  quondam  neighbor,  Commodore  Wilkes,  who  then  lived  in  the 
present  home  of  the  Cosmos  Club  ;  it  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Lamont  StOCkton 
when  Secretary  of  War.  The  adjoining  house  on  the  corner  of  Seven-  HoUSC. 

teenth  Street  —  which  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  late 
W.  W.  Corcoran,  the  philanthropic  banker,  to  whom  the  city  owes  the  Corcoran 
Gallery,  the  Louise  Home,  and  other  enterprises  and  benefactions  —  is  another  of 
the  famous  homes  of  old  Washingtnii,  and  has  been  the  residence  of  several  men  of 
note,  including  Daniel  Webster.  It  was  occupied  by  Senator  Calvin  S.  Brice  during 
the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  is  now  the  home  of  Senator  Depew  of  New  York. 

Crossing  Connecticut  Avenue,  the  corner  house  is  that  of  the  late  Admiral  Shu- 
brick,  opposite  which  (on  Seventeenth),  facing  the  square,  is  the  ancient  Decatur 
House.  Next  beyond.  No.  1621  H  Street,  is  the  residence  of  Judge  J.  C.  Bancroft 
Davis,  the  diplomat,  now  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  the  old-fashioned  square 
house  adjoining  it,  to  the  west,  George  Bancroft  spent  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life, and  completed  his  History  of  the  United  States.  Bancroft 

The  Rich-  HoUSe. 
m  o  n  d  ,  on 

the  corner  of  Seventeenth 
Street,  is  a  popular  family 
hotel.  The  Albany,  on  the 
other  side,  is  an  apartment 
house  for  gentlemen  ;  and 
on  the  southwest  corner  is 
the  Metropolitan  Club,  the 
largest,  wealthiest,  and 
most  fashionable  club  in 
Washington,  one  rule  of 
which  is  that  members  of 
the  foreign  diplomatic  ser¬ 
vice,  resident  in  Washing¬ 
ton,  are  ex  officio  members 
of  the  club,  and  need  only  pay  stipulated  dues  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  its  privi¬ 
leges.  This  block  on  H  Street  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  streets  is  familiarly 
known  as  the  Midway  Plaisance.  Adjoining  the  Metropolitan  Club  are 
club  chambers  for  gentlemen,  and  the  large  yellow  house,  next  west-  Clubs, 

ward,  was  the  home  of  Admiral  Porter,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  It 
is  now  the  French  Embassy.  The  Milton  and  Everett  are  family  apartment  houses; 
and  No.  1739  was  the  residence  of  the  late  William  A.  Richardson,  formerly  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Claims. 

In  this  neighborhood  dwelt  many  old  Washington  families  and  some  modern 
notabilities.  The  Everett  House,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  G,  is 
historic.  It  was  built  and  occupied  by  Pldward  Everett  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  when  Secretary  of  State  under  Fillmore.  Afterward  it  was  the  Everett 

home  of  Jefferson  Davis,  when  Secretary  of  War,  after  his  marriage  House, 

with  his  second  wife.  He  continued  there  during  his  term  as  Secretary 
of  State,  but  not  after  he  returned  to  the  Senate.  His  successor  in  the  house  was 
another  traitor  in  high  place,  Jacob  Thompson,  Buchanan’s  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
who  became  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Cabinet  in  1861.  Then  followed  Capt. 
Henry  A.  Wise,  a  well-known  officer  of  the  navy,  after  whom  the  medical  department 
of  the  navy  used  the  house  for  many  years. 


150 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  Wirt  House  is  a  few  rods  to  the 
east  of  the  Edward  Everett  house,  on 
G,  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth, 
on  the  south  side.  It  is  so  called  because 
that  eminent  jurist  lived 
Wirt  House,  here  twelve  years,  during 
the  administrations  o  f 
Monroe  and  J.  Q.  Adams.  Mrs.  Lock- 
wood  tells  us  that  it  is  not  known  who 
built  the  house,  but  that  it  was  occupied 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century  by  Wash¬ 
ington’s  private  secretary.  Col.  Tobias 
Lear,  a  Revolutionary  officer,  who  was 
the  commis'ioner  that  concluded  the 
peace  with  Tripoli.  Wirt  was  United 
States  Attorney-General  from  1817  to 
1829.  His  gardens  were  large  and  beauti¬ 
ful,  for  his  wife  was  exceedingly  fond  of 
flowers  and  was  the  author  of  “Flora’s 
Dictionary.”  The  most  brilliant  enter¬ 
tainments  of  that  day  were  given  here, 
until  Jackson’s  time,  when  it  was  sold 
and  occupied  later  by  a  succession  of 
Cabinet  officers  and  high  functionaries,  one  of  whom  gave  a  dinner  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales  under  its  roof.  During  or  after  the  war  it  became  the  office  of  the  Army 
Signal  Corps;  and  there  the  present  weather  service  was  developed.  The  former  chief 
signal  officer  and  Arctic  explorer,  -Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  resides  near,  at  No.  1914  G 
Street.  The  present  chief  signal  officer,  Gen.  James  Allen,  resides  at  Army  and 
Navy  Club. 

Going  westward  on  I  Street  from  Fourteenth  Street,  the  first  house  on  the  right  is 
owned  and  occupied  by  John  W.  Foster,  the  diplomat,  who  was  Secretary  of  State 
under  Harrison  and,  later,  advisory  counsel  to  China  in  her  settlement 
I  Street.  with  Japan.  The  large  brick  house  adjoining  is  the  Mexican  Legation. 

Chief  Justice  Waite  lived  in  the  house  beyond  the  alley,  now  occupied 
by  the  widow  of  ex-Governor  Swann.  The  brownstone  mansion  at  No.  1419  is  the 
residence  of  John  W.  Thompson,  former  president  of  the  National  Metropolitan  Bank. 
The  southeast  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  I  streets  was  the  Chamberlin  Hotel,  which  occu¬ 
pied  three  houses  that  formerly  belonged  to  Fernando  Wood,  ex-Governor  Swann  of 
Maryland  (who  placed  in  one  of  them  two  Thorn waldsen  mantels  from  the  Van  Ness 
mansion),  and  James  G.  Blaine,  who  lived  there  when  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre¬ 
sentatives.  Opposite  Chamberlin’s,  on  the  southwest  corner  (No.  1500  I  Street), 
Hamilton  Fish  lived  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State,  and  it  is  now  the  residence  of 
John  McLean,  of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer.  These  houses  face  upon  McPherson 
Square,  one  of  the  most  finished  of  the  city’s  smaller  parks. 

The  noble  equestrian  statue  that  graces  this  square  was  erected  by  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  to  its  commander,  James  B.  McPherson,  who  was  killed  at  Atlanta; 

and  it  was  his  successor,  Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  who  made  the 
McPherson  dedicatory  oration,  when,  amid  a  great  military  display,  this  statue 

Statue.  was  unveiled  in  1876.  The  sculptor  was  Louis  T.  Robisso,  and 

the  statue  was  composed  of  cannon  captured  in  Georgia.  The 
cost  was  about  $50,000. 


STEEETS,  SQUAEES,  AND  EESIDENCES.  151 

Many  fine  residences  and  hotels  face  this  square,  and  Vermont  Avenue  passes 
through  it  toward  the  northeast. 

Continuing  westward,  No.  1535  I  Street  is  the  residence  of  James  G.  Berret,  who 
was  mayor  of  Washington  during  the  Civil  War.  Mr.  Justice  Gray  lives  in  No.  1601 ; 
No.  1600  is  the  home  of  Mrs.  Tuckerman,  the  widow  of  a  New  York 
banker;  No.  1617  was  the  residence  of  the  late  George  W.  Riggs,  and  Storied 
is  now  occupied  by  his  daughters  ;  1710  is  the  Women’s  Club;  1707  is  HoUSCS. 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Stanley  Matthews ;  Paymaster-General  Watmough 
of  the  navy  lives  in  No.  1711,  and  John  A.  Kasson  in  No.  1726.  No.  1731  is  a  famous 
house,  having  been  occupied  by  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State, 
William  C.  Whitney,  Cleveland’s  first  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  John  Wanamaker, 
when  he  was  Postmaster-General;  it  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  S.  S.  Howland,  a 
son-in-law  of  the  late  August  Belmont.  In  No.  1739,  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth 
Street,  resides  Harriet  Lane  Johnson,  who  presided  at  the  White  House  during  the 
Buchanan  administration.  Gen.  T.  H.  Rucker,  U.S.A.,  a  prominent  officer  in  the 
Civil  War,  and  father  of  the  widow  of  General  Sheridan,  lives  at  No.  2005;  Admiral 
Selfridge  dwells  at  No.  2013;  Gen.  Robert  Macfeely,  U.S.A.,  at  No.  2015;  and  Prof. 
Cleveland  Abbe,  the  meteorologist,  at  No.  2018. 

Following  K  Street  westward  from  Twelfth  Street,  the  first  house  on  the  southwest 
corner  is  the  parsonage  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  occupied  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Radcliffe.  In  No.  1205  resides  A.  S.  Soloman,  the  almoner  of  Baron 
Hirsch,  the  Jewish  philanthropist.  Number  1301  was  once  the  residence  of  Roscoe 
Conkling;  No.  1311  was  built  by  Ben  Holiday,  who  operated  the  pony  express  acrrss 


THE  CHINESE  LEGATION. — Corner  Eighteenth  and  Q  Streets,  N.  W. 


152 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


the  continent  for  many  years  before  the 
construction  of  tlie  Union  Pacilic  Kail- 
way;  No.  KII«‘3  was  formerly  tlie  liome 
of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll;  ex-Secretary  John 
Sherman  lived  at  No.  1321;  and  1325  w’as 
during  the  war,  the  residence  of  Secretary 
Edwin  M.  Stanton;  John  G.  Carlisle  lived 
at  No.  1420;  Admiral  Worden,  the  com¬ 
mander  of  the  Monitor  during  her  tight 
with  the  Merrimac,  lived  at  No.  1428, 
and  Senator  Gorman  at  No.  1432.  Rep¬ 
resentative  Hitt  of  Illinois  lived  at  No. 
1507;  Mrs.  B.  H.  Warder  at  No.  1515; 
and  the  new  yellow  hou.se  near  the  cor¬ 
ner  of  Sixteenth  Street  is  the  home  of  the 
widow  of  George  W.  Childs  of  Philadel¬ 
phia.  The  house  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  K  and  Sixteenth  streets,  another  of 
RESIDENCE  OF  SENATOR  J.  B.  FORAKER.  Richardson’s  productions,  is  occupied  by 

1500  Sixteenth  Street,  N.  w.  ^idow  of  Nicholas  Andcrson  of  Cin¬ 

cinnati.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  Secretary,  of  the  Interior  lived  in  No.  1601;  Senator  Wetmoreof 
Rhode  Island  in  No.  1609;  the  Rev.  Dr.  McKim,  rector  Epiphany  Church, 
On  K  Street,  at  No.  1621;  Senator  Matthew  Quay  in  No.  1620;  Jerome  Bonaparte,  the 
great-grandnephew  of  Napoleon,  in  No.  1627;  ex-Senator  Murphy  of 
New  York  in  No.  1701,  and  Titian  J.  Coffey,  an  ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy,  lived  in  No. 
1713.  “Little  Lord  Faunileroy”  was  written  in  the  house  at  No.  1730,  which  was  then 
the  residence  of  Dr.  Swan  M.  and  Mrs.  Frances  Hodgson-Burnett — the  former  a  disting¬ 
uished  oculist,  and  the  latter  the  well-known  novelist. 

Sixteenth  Street,  which  starts  from  Lafayette  Square,  opposite  the  White  House,  is 
sometimes  known  as  Executive  Avenue.  St.  John’s  Church  is  on  the  right,  at  the  cor¬ 
ner  of  H  Street,  and  the  residence  of  Secretary  John  Hay  was  on  the  left.  At  the 
northwest  corner  of  I 
Street  IMr,  Justice  Gray  of 
the  Supreme  Court  resided, 
and  back  of  him  is  The 
Gordon,  a 
Executive  family  ho- 

Avenue.  tel;  No.  930 

is  the  home 
of  Maj.  George  M.  Wheel¬ 
er,  U.  S.  A.,  who  con¬ 
ducted  the  “surveys  west 
of  the  100th  Meridian” 
with  which  his  name  is 
identified.  Senator  Hale 
of  INIaine  lives  ac  No.  1001 ; 
former  Surgeon-General 
Sternberg  of  the  army, 
at  No.  1019;  Senator 
Proctor  of  Vermont 


RESIDENCE  OF  SENATOR  EUGENE  HALE, 
1001  Sixteenth  Street,  N.  W. 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AIN^D  RESIDENCES. 


153 


at  the  northeast  corner  of  L  Street,  and  E.  F.  Andrews,  the  artist,  at  No,  1232.  Passing 
Scott  Circle.  ex-Representative  Huff  of  Pennsylvania  resides  at  No.  1323;  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Mackay-Smith,  rector  of  St.  John’s  Church,  at  No.  1325;  Senator  Foraker  of 
Ohio,  at  No.  1500;  W.  G.  Gurley,  a  Washington  banker,  at  No.  1401;  Mr.  Justice 
Brown  of  the  Supreme  Court  lived  at  No.  1720;  Gen.  Rufus  Saxton,  U.  S.  A.,  at  No. 
1821,  and  other  equally  famous  people  on  both  sides.  The  conspicuous  brownstone 
“castle”  on  high  ground  at  the  end  of  Sixteenth  Street,  on  the  left,  was  the  home  of  ex- 
Senator  Henderson,  of  Missouri, 

Massachusetts  Avenue  is  one  of  the  finest  streets  in  the  city,  and  a  great  promenade 
It  stretches  parallel  with  Pennsylvania  Avenue  from  Hospital  Square,  on  the  Anacostia 
River,  northwestward  through  Lincoln  Square,  Stanton  Square,  Mount 
Veruon  Square— a  pretty  little  park  where  New  York  Avenue  crosses  IMassachU- 
Eighth  and  K  streets,  three  blocks  north  of  the  Patent  Office— Thomas  setts  AvenUC. 
Circle,  Scott  Circle,  Dupont  Circle,  and  Decatur  Circle,  where  it  bends 
slightly  and  is  extended  through  the  elegant  suburb  on  the  banks  of  Rock  Creek,  and 
so  out  to  the  hilly  region  north  of  Georgetown.  An  excellent  view  of  this  stately 
boulevard  can  be  obtained  at  its  junction  with  Twelfth  Street,  which  is  one  of  the 
highest  points  in  Washington.  Ascension  Episcopal  Church  fills  the  northwest  corner 
at  this  crossing.  Robert  Hinkley,  the  artist,  lives  in  No.  1310;  Mr.  Justice  Morris 
of  the  District  Supreme  Court,  in  No.  1314;  J.  Stanley-Brown,  private  secretary  of  the 
ate  President  Garfield,  and  “Molly”  Garfield,  his  wife,  in  No.  1318.  Mr.  E.  Francis 
Riggs  resides  at  No.  1311,  and  the  widow  of  Admiral  Dahlgren  in  No.  1325;  No.  1330 
is  the  Legation  of  Chile,  and  the  large  square  house  at  the  junction  of  M  Street  and 
Vermont  Avenue,  facing  Thomas  Circle,  is  the  home  of  ex- Justice  Wiley,  of  the  District 
Supreme  Court.  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  lived  at  No.  1412;  Senator  Cullom  at  No.  1413 
S.  H.  Kauffman,  proprietor  of  the  Evenuig  Star,  at  No.  1421.  The  large  red. 

brick  house.  No.  1435,  is  tue  German 
Embassy.  The  brownstone  build  ng  sur¬ 
rounded  by  large  grounds,  ou  the  south 
side  of  Massachusetts  Avenue,  between 
Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth 
streets,  is  the  Louise  Home.  LouisC  HodlC. 
It  was  founded  by  the  late 
W.  W.  Corcoran,  and  nearly  all  its  inmates 
are  widows  of  ex-Confcderate  officers 
belonging  to  the  aristocracy  of  the  South, 
who  lost  their  fortunes  during  the  war. 
Nearly  opposite  it  was  the  home  of  the 
late  Prof.  Spencer  F.  Baird,  long  United 
States  Fish  Commissioner  and  Secretary 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  The 
familiar  name  for  Scott  Circle,  tlie  locality 
around  the  statue  of  General  Scott,  at  the 
junction  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island  avenues,  Sixteenth  and  N  streets, 
is  •‘Calamity  Circle,”  because  every  person 
who  built  a  house  there  died  shortly 
afterward,  or  met  with  misfortune. 

This  equestrian  statue  of  Gen.  Win¬ 
field  Scott,  the  victor  in  the  Mexican  War, 
STATUE  OF  GEN.  WINFIELD  s.  SCOTT.  was  erected  in  1874.  “It  was  modeled  by 


154 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Fine 

Residences. 


H.  K.  lirown,  and  cast  in  Philadelphia  from  cannon  captured  in  Mexico.  Its  total 
height  is  fifteen  feet,  and  its  cost  was  $20,000.  The  pedestal  is  of 
Scott  Statue,  granite  from  Cape  Ann  quarries,  and  is  composed  of  five  huge  blocks 
said  to  be  the  largest  ever  quarried  in  the  United  States.  The  cost  of 
the  pedestal  was  about  $25,000.  General  Scott  is  represented  in  the  uniform  of  his  rank 
as  Lieutenant-General.” 

The  large  house  at  the  junction  of  N  Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue  was  the 
residence  of  Supreme  Justice  Shiras.  The  mansion  to  the  northward,  between  N 
Street  and  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  was  erected  by  Prof.  Alex.  Graham  Bell,  inventor  of 
the  telephone,  and  after  several  years  was  sold  to  Levi  P.  Morton,  who  occupied  it 
while  he  was  Vice-President.  The  square  brick  house  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Six¬ 
teenth  Street  was  built  by  Senator  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  and  sold  to  Mr.  D.  P. 
Morgan,  a  New  York  banker,  whose  widow  and  family  still  reside  there.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  Sixteenth  Street  the  late  William  Windom  lived  while  he  was  Senator 
from  Minnesota  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  it  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Charles  A.  Munn,  formerly  of  Chicago.  The  house  adjoining  belongs  to  Stilson 
Hutchins.  E.  Kurtz  Johnson,  a  banker,  built  and  died  in  the  house  at  the  western 
corner  of  N.  Street.  Continuing  westward  on  Massachusetts  Avenue, 
Mr.  SpofCord,  of  the  Library  of  Congress,  lived  at  No.  1621;  No.  1627  is 
the  residence  of  the  widow  of  the  late  Senator  Vance  of  North  Carolina. 
Beriah  Wilkins,  of  the  Washington  Post,  in  No.  1709;  Senator  Lodge  of 
Massachusetts,  in  No.  1765.  The  castellated  house  opposite  belongs  to  the  widow  of 
the  late  Belden  Noble,  and  is  occupied  by  the  Spanish  Legation.  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 
lives  near  by  at  No.  1736  N  Street;  Vice-President  Fairbanks  of  Indiana  lives  at  No.  1701 
K  Street.  Mrs.  Wadsworth  of  Geneseo,  New  York,  owns  the  large  house  on  the 
triangle  opposite.  The  large  mansion  of  fire-brick  on  P  Street,  back  of  it,  is  occupied 
by  William  J.  Boardman  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Passing  beyond  Dupont  Circle,  No. 
1915,  adjoining  the  “Stewart  Castle,”  was  the  residence  of  Paymaster  Michler,  of  the 
Navy,  and  on  the  corner  opposite  lived  for  many  years  the  late  Mrs.  Craig  Wadsworth, 
who  was  a  leader  of  Washington  society; 

No.  2013  is  the  residence  of  Charles  M. 

Ffoulke,  and  the  hall  which  adjoins  it  on 
the  east  was  built  to  exhibit  his  collection 
of  tapestries,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  world.  On  the  opposite 
Blaine  side  of  the  street,  in  the 

House.  rear  of  the  Blaine  house. 

Miss  Grace  Denio  Litch¬ 
field,  the  novelist,  resides.  Number  2100 
is  the  residence  of  B.  H.  Warner,  a 
Washington  banker,  and  the  large  mansion 
at  No.  2122  was  erected  by  the  late  Mrs. 

Patton,  who  inherited  a  fortune  gained  by 
her  husband  in  the  mines  of  Nevada;  it 
is  now  occupied  by  her  four  daughters. 

No.  2111,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  was  erected  by  ex-Senator  Edmunds 
of  Vermont,  and  was  sold  by  him  in  1895 
to  the  widow  of  General  Grant.  The 

large  stone  chateau,  in  French  style,  is  residence  of  mrs.  u.  s.  grant. 

the  residence  of  Mrs*  Richard  Townsend.  2111  Ma55achu§ett$  Avenue,  n.  w, 


STKEETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES.  15r) 


Connecticut  Avenue,  from  H  Street 
to  the  boundary,  is  the  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  promenade.  Starting  northward 
upon  our  survey -at  Lafayette  Square, 
where  the  gardens  of  the  old  Webster 
house  fill  the  corner  at  the  right,  No.  814 
was  the  residence,  after  the  Civil  War, 
of  Admiral  Wilkes,  and  is  still  occupied 
.  by  his  family.  Just  beyond  is  Farragut 
Square,  a  small,  prettily  planted  park,  in 
the  center  of  which  is  a  statue  to  the 
hero  of  Mobile  Bay  and  the  Mississippi 
forts. 

This  statue  of  Farragut  represents 
him  as  standing  upon  the  deck  of  his 
flagship  Hartford,  from  whose  propeller 
the  metal  of  which  the  statue  is  com¬ 
posed  was  taken,  and  was  cast  in  1880, 
after  models  by  Mrs. 

Lieutenant  Hoxie,  then  Farragut 
Miss  Vinnie  Ream.  It  Statue, 

cost  $25,000,  and  was 
dedicated  in  April,  1881,  many  of 
Farragut’s  old  shipmates  taking  part  in 
the  ceremonies. 

The  large  gray  house  on  the  next 
corner  (numbered  1705  K  Street)  was  originally  the  residence  of  Alexander  R.  Shepherd 
the  rebuilder  of  Washington.  It  was  for  many  years  the  Russian  Legation,  and  is  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  Mrs.  McLean.  The  houses  back  of  it  are  usually  occupied  by 
attaches  of  the  different  legations  The  large  brick  building  at  the  corner  of  L  Street, 
on  the  right,  is  a  Catholic  school  for  girls;  and  the  yellow  house  on  the  opposite  corner 
of  De  Sales  Street  is  the  Grafton  Hotel.  The  handsome  stone  church,  with  the  large 
square  tower,  is  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Covenant.  On  the 
opposite  corner,  to  the  north,  is  the  British  Embassy.  This  is  one  of  British 

the  few  legations  in  Washington  that  are  owned,  and  not  rented,  by  their  Embassy, 

governments,  the  others  being  those  of  Austria,  Brazil,  Germany,  Japan, 
and  Korea.  It  occupies  the  site,  curiously  enough,  of  the  first  and  only  cricket  club  at 
the  capital,  which  ceased  to  play  many  years  ago.  The  Austrian  Government  occupies 
No.  1307  as  the  residence  for  its  Legation.  The  family  of  the  late  Gardiner  G.  Hub¬ 
bard  at  No.  1328.  These  houses  are  upon  Dupont  Circle. 

This  pretty  circular  park  occupies  the  interior  of  the  space  made  by  the  intersection 
here  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire  avenues,  and  P  and  Nineteenth 
streets.  In  its  center  stands  the  bronze  statue  of  Admiral  Samuel 
Dupont  F.  Dupont,  a  popular  officer  of  the  navy  during  the  Civil  War,  which  was 

Circle.  designed  by  Launt  Thompson,  cost  $10,000,  and  was  unveiled  in  1884. 

Passing  beyond  Dupont  Circle,  the  large  red-brick  house  to  the  west¬ 
ward,  on  the  point  between  P  Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue,  was  erected  by  the  late 
James  G.  Blaine  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State  in  Garfield’s  Cabinet;  it  still  belongs  to 
his  estate,  but  is  occupied  by  Mrs.  Westingbouse  of  Pittsburg.  The  gray  house.  No.  8, 
is  known  as  Castle  Stewart  It  was  for  many  years  the  Chinese  Legation,  and  there  was 
given  the  famous  ball,  in  1886,  when  Washington  was  scandalized  by  scenes  of  social 


BRONZE  STATUE  ADMIRAL  DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT. 

Farragut  Square,  Intersection  Connecticut  Avenue  and 
I  Street,  N.  W.  By  Mrs.  Vinnie  Ream  Hoxie. 


15G 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASJIINGTOX. 


3k 

'm 


THE  BRITISH  LEGATION.-  Northwest  Corner  Connecticut  Avenue  and  N  Street,  N.  W. 


riot.  The  big  cream-colored  house,  with  the  lofty  pillared  portico,  at  Xo.  1400  New 
Hampshire  Avenue,  opposite,  was  the  home  of  the  wealthy  merchant,  L.  Z.  Leiter,  for¬ 
merly  of  Chicago,  whose  daughter  married  Lord  Curzon,  the  vicroy  of  India.  No.  1611 
Connecticut  Avenue  was  the  home  of  Mrs.  Colton,  whose  husband  was  formerly  treas¬ 
urer  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Francis  B.  Colton  lives  in  the 
I'leriUian  English  basement  house,  a  little  farther  north.  The  large  brownstone 

Hill.  residence  at  the  point  between  Connecticut  Avenue  and  Twentieth 

Street  was  the  winter  home  of  Mr.  Perkins,  of  Boston;  the  brick  house 
No.  1705,  is  the  home  of  Lyman  Tiffany;  the  Belgian  Legation  is  at  1716,  and  William 
E.  Curtis,  the  newspaper  writer  and  author  of  many  books  of  travel,  lives  at  No.  ISOl, 
at  the  corner  of  S  Street.  The  little  chapel  on  the  hill  above  is  St.  Margaret’s  (Epis¬ 
copal).  The  Chinese  Legation  is  at  the  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Q  streets. 

“Connecticut  Avenue  Extended”  is  the  name  applied  to  this  street  where,  beyond 
Rock  Creek,  it  resumes  its  straight  course.  It  leads  directly  to  Chevy  Chase,  and  bids 
fair  to  become  the  highway  of  one  of  the  best  of  the  future  suburban  districts. 

On  Rhode  Island  Avenue.  The  widow  of  Chief  Justice  Waite  lived  at  No.  1616 
just  west  of  Scott  Circle;  and  the  widow  of  General  Sheridan  at  No.  1617,  across  the 
way;  No.  1500  is  the  home  of  Elihu  Root,  Secretary  of  State,  and  at  No.  1640,  ]\Ire 
Olney,  formerly  the  Secretary  of  State  resided.  No.  1741  is  the  historic  house  pre¬ 
sented  to  Admiral  Dewey  and  transferred  by  him  to  his  wife.  The  small  “circle,”  at 
Vermont  Avenue  and  P  Street,  is  named  Iowa,  and  is  ornamented  by  a  statue  of  Gen. 
John  A.  Logan,  surmounting  a  bronze  pedestal. 

New  Hampshire  Avenue  is  a  long  street  nearly  parallel  with  Vermont  Avenue, 


STREETS,  SQUARES,  AND  RESIDENCES.  157 

reaching  from  the  Potomac  northeast  to  the  boundary  at  the  head  of  Fifteenth  Street 
and  then  extending  through  the  distant  suburb  of  Brightwood.  There 
is  a  pretty  triangle  where  it  crosses  Virginia  Avenue;  and  where  it  INew 

crosses  Pennsylvania,  K,  and  Twenty-third  streets  is  a  park  named  Hampshire 

Washington  Circle.  An  equestrian  bronze  statue  of  Washington,  Avcnue. 

modeled  and  cast  by  Clark  Mills,  was  erected  here  long  ago,  at  a  cost  of 
$50,000,  The  artist  is  said  to  have  intended  to  represent  him  as  he  appeared  at  the 
battle  of  Princeton. 

Some  distant  above  this,  the  triangle,  at  the  junction  of  the  Avenue  N  and 
Twentieth  Street,  is  covered  by  the  former  residence  of  Dr.  Guy  Fairfax  Whiting, 
Christian  Heurich,  who  owns  the  brewery  a  block  below,  lives  at  No.  1307.  Paymaster- 
General  Stewart,  United  States  Navy,  resided  at  No.  1315;  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst,  widow 
of  the  late  Senator  from  California,  and  famous  for  her  charities,  at  No.  1400;  and  the 
widow  of  the  late  “Sunset”  Cox  at  No.  1408.  North  of  Dupont  Circle  the  Lei  ter 
mansion  is  conspicuous,  and  that  of  W.  C.  Whitmore,  another  retired  Chicago  merchant 
is  on  the  next  corner,  at  No.  15*36.  The  large,  white  house  opposite  this  is  the  home  of 
Lieut.  Richardson  Clover,  United  States  Navy.  The  Rev.  P.  Van  Wyck,  a  retired 
chaplain  of  the  navy,  lived  at  No.  1601;  Representative  Dalzell  of  Pennsylvania,  at  No. 
1605;  and  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  the  novelist,  on  the  corner  of  R  Street. 

Some  notable  residences,  away  from  the  district  surveyed  above,  should  be  men¬ 
tioned.  The  officers  attached  to  the  Navy  Yard,  to  the  Washington  Barracks  and 
to  the  cavalry  post  at  Fort  Meyer,  dwell  at  these  stations,  in  the  more  or  less  cozy 
quarters  provided  by  the  Government  for  them.  Senator  Morgan  of  Alabama  lives  in  a 
brownstone  house  opposite  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  at  No.  315  Four-and-a-half 
Street. 

Mgr.  Martinelli,  the  apostle  Legate  of  the  Pope  of  Rome  to  the  United 
States  resides  at  No.  201  I  Street.  This  house  was  presented  to  General  Grant  Gift 

Grant  by  the  citizens  of  HoUSC. 

Washington  at  the  close 
of  the  War,  and  occupied  by  him  until 
he  was  inaugurated  as  President.  It  was 
afterward  the  residence  of  Justice  Brad¬ 
ley  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  adjoin¬ 
ing  house,  No.  203,  was  presented  to  Gen. 
W.  T.  Sherman,  who  lived  there  for 
several  years,  and  afterward  on  Fifteenth 
Street.  Mrs.  Jean  Lander,  once  a  fam¬ 
ous  actress,  resided  at  No.  45  B  Street, 
S.  E.,  facing  Capital  Park;  and  John 
G.  Nicolay,  private  secretary 
to  President  Lincoln,  and  his 
co-biographer  with  Mr.  Hay  was  at  No. 
212,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  same 

New  Hampshire  Avenue  and  P  Street,  N.  W.  Street. 


RESIDENCE  OF  L.  Z.  LEITER,  ESQ. 


158 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON 


SENATE  OFFICE  BUILDING.  B  AND  FIRST  STREET 
The  House  of  Representatives’  Office  Building  at  Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  on  the  same  plan 


MUNICIPAL  BUILDING 


The  New  Municipal  building  is  situated  at  14th  Street  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue — 
N.  W.,  built  of  granite  and  marble  at  the  cost  of  $2,500,000. 


XIII. 

EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


1.  To  Mount  Vernon. 

The  pilgrimage  to  the  house  and  tomb  of  George  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon  is 
regarded  by  most  Americans  as  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure,  and  foreigners  look  upon 
it  as  a  compliment  due  to  the  nation.  It  forms,  moreover,  a  delightful  excursion. 

Either  of  two  routes  may  be  taken  to  Mount  Vernon — by  steamboat  on  the 
Potomac— see  page  211  for  time  table — or  by  electric  cars. 

The  electric  trains  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mount  Vernon 
Railway  leave  their  station,  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street,  Electric 

every  hour,  week  days,  from  10  a.  M.'to  3,00  p.  m.  from  May  1st  to  Nov.  Railway 

1st,  and  from  10  a.  m.  to  2  p.  m.  from  Nov.  1st  to  May  1st.  These  RoutC. 

electric  trains,  which  are  the  fastest  and  best  equipped  in  the  world,  make 
the  round  trip  in  three  hours,  of  which  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  may  be  spent 
on  the  grounds.  The  fare  is  75  cents  for  the  round  trip,  or  85  cents  including  side  trip 
to  Arlington.  All  tickets  allow  stop-over  privilege  in  Alexandria.  The  many  points  of 
interest  as  passed  en  route  and  described  below  are  pointed  out  and  cleverly  explained 
by  competent  guides,  who  accompany  all  Mount  Vernon  trains.  The  route  lies  down 
Fourteenth  Street;  passing  the  Agricultural  Department,  Washington  Monument, 
and  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  crossing  the  Potomac  by  way 
of  the  new  steel  bridge  into  Virginia.  This  bridge  replaced  the  Long^  BridgfC. 
old  “Long  Bridge,”  which  became  famous  during  the  Civil  War  as  a 
military  route  into  the  seceding  States.  It  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  Potomac,  with 
the  stately  Arlington  Mansion  on  the  hills  to  the  right.  At  its  further  end  there  still 
stands,  plainly  seen  at  the  left  of  the  track  as  soon  as  the  first  high  ground  is  reached, 
Fort  Runyon,  a  strong  earthwork  erected  in  1861  to  guard  the  head  of  the  bridge  from 
raiders.  But  a  short  distance  farther  is  Arlington  Junction  where  connection  is  made 
for  Arlington.  A  little  beyond  it  the  train  passes  St.  Asaph  and  then  skirts  the  base  of 
Braddock  Heights — the  low  hills  upon  which  Braddock’s  army  was  encamped,  in  1755, 
before  undertaking  that  disastrous  march  against  the  French  and  Indians  at  Fort 
Duquesne  (now  Pittsburg,)  where  Braddock  was  killed  and  his  army  saved  from 
annihilation  only  by  the  genius  of  his  young  Colonial  Aid,  George  Washington.  The 
city  of  Alexandria  is  then  entered. 


169 


160 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON 


INTERIOR  CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA. 


The  old  town  contains  many  quaint  and  interesting  relics  of  the  past,  of  which 
the  most  interesting  is  Christ  Church  (near  the  AVashington  Street 
Christ  station),  in  which  Washington’s  family  and  all  the  respectable  pei’sons 

Church.  of  his  neighborhood  used  to  worship.  It  has  been  kept  as  near  as  may 

be  as  it  was  in  those  days;  and  the  old  square  iiew  in  which  “  Ilis 
Excellency,  the  General,”  used  t  >  sit,  gazing  up  at  the  high  pulpit  during  the  long 
and  strong  sermons,  is  still  pointed  out.  Other  things  of  interest  for  their  associations 
are  the  Masonic  lodgeroom,  where  Washington  and  other  prominent  men  of  that  day 
were  wont  to  meet;  the  house  in  which  Braddock  had  his  home  and  military  head¬ 
quarters;  the  local  monument  to  Confederate  soldiers  (seen  from  the  train  at 
Washington  Street),  and  other  houses  and  objects. 

Soon  after  leaving  Alexandria  by  way  of  King  Street  (with  a  station  at  King  and 
Royal)  the  Potomac  comes  into  view,  and  the  train  crosses  upon  a  bridge  the  broad 
estuary  of  Big  Hunting  Creek,  at  the  head  of  which  was  built,  during 
Below  the  Civil  War,  Fort  Lyon,  one  of  the  principal  defenses  of  Washington. 

Alexandria.  The  red-brick  building  seen  some  distance  up  the  stream  is  the  old 
Episcopal  Theological  Seminary,  founded  in  colonial  tiiiK's.  Alore 
plainly  visible  at  the  left  is  Jones  Point,  marked  by  a  lighthouse.  This  was  the 
southern  corner  of  the  original  District  of  Columbia.  Near  the  lighthouse  is  buried 
a  marked  corner-stone  placed  there  with  much  ceremony  by  AVashington  and  other 
founders  of  the  Government ;  and  it  was  proposed  to  erect  there  a  magniticent  monu¬ 
ment.  A  mile  farther  on  the  position  of  Fort  Foote  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  is 
seen  ;  and  presently  the  track  rises  to  higher  ground  where,  looking  back,  the  Capitol 
is  visible  a  dozen  miles  away.  Here,  among  peach  orchards,  begins  the  Mount 
A/^ernon  estate,  which  in  George  AVashington’s  time  contained  about  8,(X)0  acres ;  and 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


161 


just  beyond  Belmont  Station  is  seen,  some  distance  at  the  left,  the  white  liouse  in  which 
dwelt  t/ol.  Tobias  Lear,  Washington’s  secretary.  Tlu;  half-ruiiu'd  haiai,  somewhat 
removed  from  the  house,  go(‘s  hack  to  the  early  history  of  tin;  property.  Tin;  remainder 
of  the  run  is  through  beautiful  tields,  with  pleasant  outlooks  all  around,  frecpient  views 
of  the  river,  and  a  sight  of  the  flags  flying  over  Fort  Washington  and  Fort  Hunt. 

The  terminus  is  at  the  garden  gate  of  the  Mount  Vernon  grounds,  within  tliree 
minutes’  walk  of  the  mansion. 

The  river  route  to  Mount  Vernon,  on  historic  Potomac,  is  by  the 
magnificent  steel  steamer  Charles  Macalester,  built  expressly  for  this  l^iver  RoUtC. 
service  (capacity  1,700  passengers)  with  all  modern  conveniences.  The 
steamer  leaves  Seventh  Street  wharf  daily  (Sunday  excepted),  10  a.  m.  and  2.30  r.  m  , 
summer  schedule  ilVIay  30  to  November  1);  10  a.  m.  and  1.45  r.  m.,  winter  schedule 
(November  1  to  May  30).  During  the  summer  season  pleasant  day  and  evening  trips 
via  this  steamer  to  historic  Marshall  Hall,  opposite  Mount  Vernon,  etc. 

The  Potomac  River  trip  is  one  of  gi\  at  enjoyment  on  a  fine  day.  As  the  steamer 
moves  out  into  the  stream,  it  rides  in  a  broad  tidal  channel  dredged  for  harbor  pur¬ 
poses  by  the  Government  and  kept  full  by  a  tidal  reservoir  above.  The  long  artificial 
island  which  separat**s  this  harbor  from  the  river  itself  will  hereafter  become  a  park. 
On  the  city  shore,  immediately  below  the  wharves,  appears  the  pleasant  parade  of 
Washington  Barracks,  or  The  Arsenal,  as  it  is  still  more  commonly  called  —  a 


CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA. 


162 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


military  post  on  the  peninsula  between  the  Potomac  and  its  eastern  branch.  Its  land 
entrance  is  at  the  foot  of  Four-and-one-half  Street,  and  is  reached  by  electric  cars 
from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  via  Seventh  Street.  A  trifling  settlement  styled  Carrolls- 
burg,  with  an  earthen  breast-high  battery,  existed  on  the  extremity 
Washingfton  of  this  point,  which  was  called  Turkey  Buzzard  or  Greenleaf  s  Point 
Barracks.  when  the  city  was  laid  out ;  and  in  1803  the  peninsula  was  reserved 
for  military  purposes  as  far  as  T  Street,  S.  W.  What  few  buildings  were 
there  in  1814  were  destroyed  by  the  British,  who  lost  a  large  number  of  men  by  drop¬ 
ping  a  “port-flre”  into  a  dry  well  where  a  great  quantity  of  navy  powder  had  been 
hidden,  thus  producing  an  impromptu  volcano.  In  1826  the  northern  end  of  the 
reservation,  as  far  back  as  U  Street,  denoted  by  the  jog  in  the  river  wall  on  the  Poto¬ 
mac  side,  was  walled  off  as  a  site  for  a  district  penitentiary.  A  building  was  erected 
having  a  yard  with  a  high  inclosing  wall,  and  here,  in  1865,  were  conflned  the  con¬ 
spirators  in  the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  Four  of  them  were  hung  and  buried  there. 
Exactly  where  this  execution  and  the  interments  were  made  is  not  accurately 
known,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  gallows  was  planted  near  the  circular  flower  bed 
now  in  front  of  the  commandant’s  door,  and  that  the  bodies  were  buried  near  its 
foot.  All  were  soon  afterward  removed,  the  penitentiary  was  swept  away,  the  limits 
of  the  reservation  were  advanced  to  P  Street,  and,  in  1881,  the  arsenal  was  abolished. 

The  verdant  parade,  with  its  flag  and  guns,  and  avenue  of  big  trees,  its  former 
storehouses,  which  during  the  war  contained  enormous  quantities  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  are  now  used  as  barracks,  and  its  quadrangle  of  officers’  quarters 
at  the  extreme  point,  make  a  pretty  picture  as  we  float  past.  As  it  is  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  a  regiment  of  artillery  it  has  the  band,  and  during  the  pleasant  half  of  the 
year,  guard-mounting  at  9  a.  m.  and  dress  parade  at  5  p.  m.  are  conducted  with  much 
ceremony,  while  battery  drills  can  be  seen  almost  any  morning  at  10  or  11  o’clock. 

The  Anacostia  River  next  opens  broadly  at  the  left,  and  the  navy  yard  and 
southern  front  of  the  city  are  exposed  to  view.  On  the  further  bank  looms  up  the 
great  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  which  cost  $1,000,000,  and 
Hospital  is  one  of  the  flnest  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  It  is 
for  Insane,  primarily  intended  for  demented  men  of  the  army  and  navy ;  and 
there  Lieutenant  Cushing,  of  torpedo-boat  fame,  and  Captain  McGiffin, 
the  hero  of  the  naval  flght  of  the  Yalu,  in  China-Japan  war,  ended  their  blighted 
days. 

The  low,  level  grounds  of  Giesboro  Point,  bordering  the  river  below  the  asylum, 
were  occupied  during  the  war  as  cavalry  camps  and  drilling  stations.  Opposite  it  is 
the  broad  estuary  of  Four-Mile  Run.  Alexandria  now  comes  into  view. 

(A  ferry  also  runs  at  hourly  intervals  between  the  Seventh  Street  wharf  and 
Alexandria.  The  Macalester  also  stops  at  Alexandria  both  going  and  coming.) 

Just  below  Alexandria  the  lighthouse  and  opening  of  Hunting  Creek,  already 
described,  are  passed.  This  creek  gave  its  name  to  the  Washington  plantation  before 
Lawrence  Washington  named  it  “  Mount  Vernon,”  in  compliment  to  an  admiral  with 
whom  he  had  served.  Near  here  is  a  little  stopping-place  called  Gunston  Landing, 
where  some  of  the  river  boats  stop  to  take  on  milk  and  vegetables  for  the  city 
market.  It  is  the  ancient  landing  for  the  estate  of  the  eminent  Mason  family,  whose 
colonial  seat,  Gunston  Hall,  is  still  standing  a  short  distance  inland,  though  no  longer 
in  possession  of  the  Masons.  It  was  a  familiar  calling-place  for  Washington,  his 
nearest  neighbor  in  fact. 

On  the  hilly  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  tow'ard  which  the  boat  now  heads, 
was  another  commanding  earthwork,  Fort  Foote,  once  of  military  importance. 
This  fort  waa  kept  in  repair  for  years  after  the  Civil  War,  and  the  United  States 


EXCUKSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


163 


still  owns  its  site.  The  next  stop  is  made,  about  twelve  miles  below  the  city,  at 
Fort  Washington,  a  historic  fort  on  a  point  of  the  Maryland  shore,  within  sight  of 
Mount  Vernon  and  commanding  the  channel.  Tradition  says  that  the  early 
explorers  of  the  Potomac  found  an  Indian  “castle’^  here,  and  that 
Washington  advised  the  building  of  a  fort  on  this  headland,  as  soon  as  Fort 

the  District  of  Columbia  was  created.  L’Enfant  drew  its  plans  as  his  Washington* 
last  public  work,  and  a  strong  fortress  was  begun,  but  was  blown  up  by 
the  Americans  in  1812,  when  they  heard  that  the  British  were  coming.  It  was 
rebuilt  in  1898,  under  the  threat  of  war  with  Europe,  and  made  the  principal  defense 
of  the  capital  against  sea  attack.  The  principal  battery  consists  of  five  8-inch  rifies, 
mounted  on  disappearing  carriages,  behind  enormous  embankments  of  earth  and  con¬ 
crete,  200  feet  above  the  river  level.  These  guns  command  the  river  for  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles,  and  have  an  extremely  accurate  range  of  over  six  miles.  Fort  Sheridan 
is  being  constructed,  nearly  opposite,  where  will  be  mounted  two  huge  12-inch  rifles, 
having  an  even  longer  range  and  more  destructive  fire,  besides  several  8-inch  guns. 
Arrangements  are  making  for  the  placing  of  sub-aquatic  mines  in  the  river  whenever 
needed,  controlled  from  these  forts.  It  is  believed  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  an 
enemy  to  reach  the  capital  by  sailing  up  the  river.  The  only  hope  of  reduction  of  the 
forts  would  be  from  the  land  side,  and  here  elaborate  defenses,  to  be  defended  by 
mortar  batteries,  fixed  and  field  artillery,  and  large  bodies  of  infantry,  are  now  in 
process  of  construction.  Extensive  barracks  are  building  at  Fort  Washington, 
which  is  destined  soon  to  become,  probably,  the  most  important  garrison  station 
near  the  capital. 

The  United  States  Fish  Commission  maintains  a  fish-hatching  station  near  Fort 
Washington. 

Mount  Vernon  is  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac,  sixteen  miles  below  Wash¬ 
ington.  The  lands  about  it  were  a  part  of  an  extensive  grant  to  John  Washington, 
the  first  of  the  family  who  came  to  America  in  1656,  and  they  descended 
rather  fortuitously,  in  1752,  to  George,  then  hardly  more  than  a  lad.  I^OUnt 

He  married  in  1759,  and  continued  to  develop  and  beautify  the  estate  Ycrnon. 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  ability  he  had 
shown  in  the  Virginia  militia  called  him  to  the  service  of  the  United  Colonies.  He 
returned  to  Mount  Vernon  at  the  close  of  the  war,  but,  to  his  grief,  was  obliged  soon 
to  quit  its  beloved  acres  for  the  cares  of  the  first  Presidency  of  the  Republic.  Dur¬ 
ing  this  interval  of  five  years  an  almost  continuous  stream  of  visitors  had  been  enter¬ 
tained  there,  and  among  them  were  many  foreigners  of  note  as  well  as  representative 
Americans  of  the  time.  Finally,  in  1797,  the  great  commander  was  released  from  the 
cares  of  government,  and  enabled  to  retire,  to  pass,  as  he  hoboed,  many  quiet  and 
enjoyable  years  upon  his  plantation.  Only  two  years  were  vouchsafed  him,  however, 
for  on  December  14,  1799,  he  died  of  membranous  croup  (or  barbarous  medical  treat¬ 
ment)  following  exposure  in  a  storm.  He  was  buried  upon  his  own  estate,  and  the 
family  declined  to  accept  the  subsequent  invitation  of  Congress  to  transfer  the  body 
to  the  undercroft  of  the  Capitol. 

For  sixteen  years  Washington  cultivated  his  great  farm  and  lived  the  usual  life  of 
a  Virginia  planter.  He  raised  large  quantities  of  tobacco,  which  he  shipped  to  Lon¬ 
don  direct  from  his  own  wharf  at  Mount  Vernon.  He  had  no  ambition 
for  public  life  after  his  term  of  service  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  had  The  Estate* 
expired,  and  was  content  with  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  and  the  social 
pleasures  of  a  country  gentleman.  He  had  some  of  the  best  society  in  Virginia  — 
“the  polite,  wealthy  and  fashionable” — was  a  profuse  and  liberal  host,  was  fond 
of  fox  hunting,  fishing,  fowling,  and  athletic  sports,  and  was  happy  in  his  home  and 


164 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


domestic  reliitions.  TTis  wife  was  tlioroiighly  domestic  in  her  tastes  and  liabits,  and 
a  careful  housekeeper. 

Washinjrtc^n’s  proi)erty,  estimated  as  worth  $530,000,  descended,  at  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Washington,  here,  in  1802,  to  Bushrod  Washington,  then  a  Justice  of  tin 
Supreme  Court,  who  died  in  1829,  leaving  the  estate  to  his  nei)hew,  John  Augustine 
Washington,  from  whom  it  passed  by  legacy,  in  1832,  to  his  widow,  and  from  her,  in 
1855,  to  her  son.  He  proposed  to  sell  it,  when  a  Southern  lady.  Miss  Ann  Pamela 
Cunningham,  secured  the  refusal  of  it,  and,  after  failing  to  interest  Congress  in  her 
proposal  that  the  Government  should  buy  and  preserve  it  as  a  memorial,  succeeded  in 
arousing  the  women  of  the  country.  An  association  of  these  women,  named  Mount 
Vernon  Ladies’  Association  of  the  Union,  with  representatives  from  every  State,  was 
incorporated  by  Virginia  in  1856,  and  in  1858  it  piid  $209,000  for  the  central  part  of 
the  pr.iperty  (some  200  acres),  covenanting  to  hold  it  in  perpetuity.  The  admission 
fee  of  25  cents  goes  to  the  payment  of  current  expenses. 

The  approach  to  Mount  Vernon,  by  the  river,  impresses  one  with  the  sightliness 
of  the  situation  and  the  dignity  of  the  mansion,  which  shines  among  the  trees  from 
an  elevation  150  feet  above  the  landing  wharf. 

In  the  summer.  Mount  Vernon  is  a  mass  of  foliage  to  the  river’s  edge.  It  has  a 
great  growth  of  ancient  trees  and  luxuriant  undergrowth.  Like  all  the  region  in  which 
it  is  located,  it  is  thickly  wooded,  and  from  the  river  has  an  exceedingly  picturesque 
appearance.  The  mansion  is  very  nearly  concealed  by  the  trees  surrounding  it. 

There  is  only  one  place  as 
you  approach  it  from  the 
north  where  it  can  be  seen 
at  all.  Approaching  it  from 
the  south  nothing  of  it  can 
be  seen  save  a  small  part  of 
the  roof.  From  the  south 
the  river  curves  directly  to 
the  estate.  Until  you  get 
within  a  short  distance  of  it 
a  high,  jutting  bank  hides 
it  from  view.  When  the 
bank  is  passed  the  estate 
comes  boldly  in  sight  and 
presents  a  most  beautiful 
appearance.  It  is  located 
on  an  elevation  —  the  high¬ 
est  point  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  —  and  from  the  grounds  delightful  views 
of  river  and  shore  can  be  obtained  through  openings  in  the  groves  of  trees.” 

Grounds  and  Biiilding-s. 

Tlte  Tomb  of  Washington  is  the  first  object  of  attention,  and  stands  immediately 
at  the  head  of  the  path  from  the  landing.  Its  position,  small  dimensions,  and  plain 
form  of  brick  were  dictated  by  Washington  in  his  will.  The  back  part 
Tomb  of  of  it,  extending  into  the  bank,  and  closed  by  iron  doors,  entombs  the 
Wasbing^ton.  bodies  of  about  forty  members  and  relatives  of  the  family.  The  front 
part,  closed  by  plain  iron  gates,  through  which  anyone  may  look,  con¬ 
tains  two  plain  sarcophagi,  each  excavated  from  a  single  block  of  marble,  which  were 
made  and  presented  by  John  Struthers  of  Philadelphia,  in  1837.  That  one  in  the 


WASHINGTON'S  MANSION  AT  MOUNT  VERNON  —  South  and  East  S'des 


166 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


center  of  the  little  inclosure  holds  the  mortal  remains  of  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
within  the  mahogany  coffin  in  which  they  were  originally  placed.  At  his  left  is  the 
body  of  his  “  consort,”  Martha  Washington.  Both  the  sarcophagi  are  sealed  and  are 
intended  never  to  be  opened  ;  nor  are  the  vaults  at  the  rear.  Four  times  a  year, 
how'ever,  the  iron  gates  are  opened  by  the  authorities,  and  it  is  on  these  occasions 
that  the  wreaths  and  other  offerings  of  flowers  are  deposited. 

This  was  not  the  first  burial-place  of  Washington.  At  the  time  of  his  death  his 
body  was  placed  in  the  older  and  smaller  family  tomb  a  few  steps  farther  north  and 
nearer  the  river,  which  is  now  overgrown  with  ivy  and  shaded  by 
Old  Tomb.  immense  oaks.  Here  Mrs.  Washington  was  laid  beside  him,  and  there 
they  remained  until  1837,  when  they  were  removed  to  their  present 
resting-place.  Judge  Bushrod  Washington  and  several  other  relatives  of  the  family 


VI&.  -'-.a-..! 

T.ME  TOMB  OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

are  buried  near  by,  beneath  monuments  that  bear  their  names,  and  between  the 
Tomb  and  the  river-bluff  used  to  be  buried  all  the  slaves  who  died  upon  the  estate  — 
bow  many  is  unknown  ;  but  the  only  one  marked  is  that  of  the  old  nurse  of  Mrs. 
Jane  Washington,  one  of  the  latest  occupants  of  the  estate,  and  the  last  person  to  be 
entombed  within  the  vault. 

The  Mansion  itself  stands  upon  an  eminence  overlooking  broad  reaches  of  the 
Potomac,  and  125  feet  above  it.  It  is  built  of  w^ood,  the  framework  being  of  oak,  is 
96  feet  long  by  30  feet  wide,  and  has  two  stories  and  an  attic.  The 
The  eastern  or  river-facing  front  is  shaded  by  a  portico,  as  high  as  the  eaves, 

Mansion.  supported  by  eight  square  posts  of  wood,  and  paved  at  the  level  of  the 

ground  with  tiles  imported  from  England  in  1786  ;  this  pavement  is  14^ 
feet  wide.  The  roof  of  the  portico  is  crowned  by  an  ornamental  balustrade  half  con¬ 
cealing  the  four  dormer  windows  by  which  that  side  of  the  attic  is  lighted  ;  and  the 
ceiling  and  posts  of  the  portico  are  neatly  paneled. 

This  river-facing  side,  though  no  more  conspicuous,  is  less  interesting  architec¬ 
turally,  than  the  western  or  landward  front  of  the  house,  which  was  the  one  most 


EXCUESIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


167 


often  approached  by  visitors  in  the  old  coach -traveling  days.  This  has  no 
porch,  but  presents  an  extended  plain  front,  with  an  ornamental 
central  and  two  side  doors,  symmetrically  disposed,  while  the  Western 
roof  is  pleasingly  broken  by  a  low  gable  and  two  dormers,  and  by  Front, 

the  little  central  cupola  and  two  large  chimneys. 

From  each  end  of  the  mansion,  on  this  side,  curving  colonnades  connected  with 
it  the  kitchen  on  the  left  and  the  office  of  the  estate  on  the  right ;  and  a  generous 
lawn  stretched  before  the  house,  shaded  along  the  sides  and  at  a  distance  by  numer. 
ous  great  trees  which  still  survive,  and  containing  a  sun-dial.  This  was  called  the 
Bowling  Green,  and  terminated  at  the  gate  on  the  highway  by  which  carriages 
entered  the  home  grounds. 

The  Kitchen  was  a  spacious  house  nearly  all  of  one  end  of  which  was  devoted  to  a 
huge  fireplace,  whose  andirons  and  turnspit  are  still  in  place,  and  a  fire  still  burns 
upon  the  hearth.  Here  a  light  lunch  is  served  and  souvenirs  are  sold 
by  the  Ladies’  Association.  Next  the  house  stands  the  original  well,  Outbuilding^S. 
from  which  one  may  still  pump  a  drink  of  water  ;  and  just  beyond  it  is 
the  great  Smokehouse,  always  so  important  an  adjunct  to  every  self-supporting  Southern 
establishment.  Beyond  the  smokehouse,  on  the  road  which  leads  southward  toward 
the  Tomb  and  steamboat  landing,  is  the  old  Laundry,  and  then  the  Coachhouse  in 
which  may  be  seen  an  old-time  chaise,  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  Washington  car¬ 
riages  :  in  the  General’s  time  this  house  was  the  shelter  for  his  great  white  chariot-of- 
state.  Then  comes  the  Barn,  the  oldest  building  on  the  estate,  which  was  constructed 
by  Washington’s  father,  in  1733,  from  bricks  said  to  have  been  imported  from  Eng¬ 
land.  Its  roof,  of  course,  is  new,  and  the  building  is  still  serviceable. 

The  outer  buildings  at  the  right  (or  north)  of  the  house,  include  the  building  in 
which  the  manager  of  the  estate  resided,  and  where  was  the  Business  Office;  it  is  now 
the  office  of  the  Superintendent.  Just  beyond  was  the  Carpenter  Shop ;  and  in  the 
rear  of  this  a  larger  building  called  the  Spinning-House  where,  in  old  times,  the  slave 
women  gathered  to  spin  and  weave  the  cotton,  wool,  and  flax  for  the  clothes  of  the 
servants  and  to  make  garments  and  rag  carpets  ;  the  room  is  now  filled  with  looms 
and  spinning  wheels.  Still  farther  away  in  this  direction  is  seen  the  row  of  restored 
buildings  originally  the  quarters  of  the  colored  servants  required  about  the  house, 
stables,  and  gardens.  The  field  hands  lived  in  cabins  scattered  about  the  estate.  Near 
them  are  the  greenhouses. 

The  Gardens  are  perhaps  the  most  interesting  places  in  the  whole  grounds.  They 
were  laid  out  in  a  formal  style  of  walks  and  beds,  as  was  then  the  fashion,  defined  by 
hedges  of  box,  which  still  grow  luxuriantly  and  are  kept  well  trimmed 
as  of  yore.  In  the  early  summer  they  are  a  marvel  of  flowers  and  beau-  Gardens, 
tiful  foliage.  That  enclosure  on  the  north  side,  between  the  lawn  and 
the  negro  quarters,  was  the  rose  garden.  It  contains  specimens  of  that  rose  named 
by  Washington  for  his  mother,  and  others  bearing  his  own  name  and  that  of  Nellie 
Custis.  It  is  no  wonder,  as  we  are  told,  that  it  was  one  of  the  regular  afternoon 
pleasures  of  Madame  Washi  gton  to  gather  rose  leaves  here  to  make  rose  water  and 
a  certain  perfumed  unguent  for  which  she  was  famous  among  her  friends.  It  was  a 
habit  of  the  family  to  ask  distinguished  guests  to  plant  something  as  a  keepsake,  and 
several  of  these  mementos  still  flourish.  The  little  structure  at  the  end  of  the  long 
walk  in  the  garden  is  reputed  to  have  been  the  schoolroom  of  the  Custis  children. 
The  “Vineyard  Enclosure,”  as  Washington  designated  it,  in  the  rear  of  the  kitchen, 
was  devoted  more  to  fruit  and  vegetables,  yet  was  a  charming  garden,  too. 

The  Summer  House,  on  the  brow  of  the  river  bluff,  stands  upon  the  site  of  an 
original  one,  and  has  beneath  it  a  deep  cellar  suitable  for  storing  ice.  The  slope  of 


168 


JUCTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


the  bluff  was  devoted  by  Washington  to  the  purposes  of  a  deer  park,  and  deer  liave 
been  replaced  there  since  1887. 

The  Mansion  and  Its  Relics. 

The  mansion  is  divided  interiorly  by  a  bioad  hall  running  from  side  to  side,  and 
having  the  main  stairway,  and  here  one  may  well  begin  the  survey  of  the  interior. 

When  Mount  Vernon  was  acquired  by  the  Ladies’  Association  it  was  not  only  out 
of  repair  but  the  furniture  had  been  distributed  to  various  heirs  orsoldand  scattered. 

An  effort  was  at  once  made  to  recover  as  much  as  possible,  in  order  to 
Interior.  restore  as  closely  as  might  be  the  original  home-like  appearance  of 
the  house  As  it  has  been  impossible  to  do  this  thoroughly  a  great 
many  other  articles  of  furniture,  adornment,  and  historical  interest  have  been  added. 
In  order  to  do  this  the  various  State  branches  of  the  Association  were  invited  to 
undertake  to  refurnish  one  room  each,  and  many  have  done  so,  and  the  names  of 
these  States  are  identified  with  the  apartments  they  have  taken  charge  of.  A  con¬ 
siderable  quantity  of  furniture  as  well  as  personal  relics  of  George  and  Martha 
Washington  are  here,  however,  especially  in  tJie  bediooms  where  they  died.  These 
are  mostly  distinctly  labeled,  so  that  the  visitor  can  distinguish  between  what 
belonged  to  the  Father  of  his  Cou  try  and  wnat  is  simply  illustrative  of  the  domestic 
life  of  his  day. 

The  Cential  Hall  contains  three  of  Washington’s  dress  swords,  the  most  interesting 
of  which  is  the  one  bequeathed  to  his  nephew  Lewis,  since  it  is  the  one  he  wore 
when  he  resigned  his  commission  at  Annapolis,  when  he  was  inaugu- 
Ccntral  Hall,  rated  President  at  New  York,  and  elsewhere  on  ceremonious  occasions. 

Another  was  worn  by  him  in  the  Braddock  campaign.  Here,  also, 
hangs  the  main  key  of  the  Bastile  —  ihat  prison  in  Paris  which  was  so  justly  hated 


THE  CENTRAL  HALL. 

by  the  people,  and  which  was  demolished  by  the  mob  in  1789.  Lafayette  sent  it  to 
Washington  with  a  characteristic  letter;  and  also  the  model  of  tie*  Bastile  in  the 
Banquet  Hall.  Lafayette’s  Agreement  to  serve  as  Major-General  in  the  American 
army  hangs  near  by.  The  hall  appears  as  it  w^as  redecorated  by  Washington  in 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON 


169 


1775,  and  the  engravings  are  reprints  of  pictures  he  owned.  The  tall  clock  on  the 
stairs  was  presented  by  New  Jersey;  the  table  belonged  to  AV.  A.  AVashington. 

The  Music-room  or  East  Parlor  opens  from  this  hall  by  the  first  door  at  the  right, 
and  is  under  the  care  of  the  Vice-Regent  of  the  Association  from  Ohio,  It  is  crowded 
with  objects,  of  which  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  harpsichord  that 
was  given  to  Nellie  Custis  by  AVashington,  together  with  his  grand  I'lusic-room. 
military  plume,  when  she  married  Laurance  Lewis  in  1798,  “when  the 
hour  came,  the  tall  majestic  figure  emerged  from  his  bedroom,  clad  in  the  old  worn 
continental  buff  and  blue  .  .  .  and  at  the  appointed  moment  gave  the  pretty, 

blushing  creature,  with  her  wild-rose  cheeks  and  dark  and  liquid  eyes,  into 
the  keeping  of  his  trusted  nephew,  Laurance.”  It  is  such  gracious,  homely  pictures 
as  these  that  rise  to  the  imagination  as  one  loiters  about  the  st  'ried  homestead  of 
the  Father  of  his  Country.  Here  also  are  the  stool  belonging  to  the  piano,  and 
Miss  Custis’  embroidery  frame  ;  Washington’s  flute  —  of  rosewood,  silver-mounted  — 
his  card-table,  the  guitar  and  music-b  jok  of  a  relative,  and  in  the  cabinet  many  small 
articles  of  tableware,  his  spectacles,  a  steel  camp-fork,  etc.,  which  belonged  to  the 
General  or  his  family.  The  upholstering  of  the  reproduced  furniture  and  the  form 
of  the  A^enetian  mirror  are  like  that  originally  here. 

The  West  Parlor,  entered  by  the  second  hall  door  on  the  right,  looks,  in  its  walls, 
ceiling,  and  handsome  corner  fireplace,  as  it  did  when  Washington  left  it.  Above  the 
mantel  are  carved  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  family,  and  his  crest  and 
initials  appear  cast  in  relief  on  the  iron  fireback ;  the  mantel  painting  West  Parlor, 
of  ships  is  said  to  portray  a  part  of  the  fleet  at  Carthagena  of  that 
Admiral  Vernon  after  whom  the  estate  was  named.  The  carpet  is  a  large  rug 
presented  by  Louis  XVI  to  Washington.  It  was  woven  to  order,  is  dark  green  with 
orange  stars ;  its  centerpiece  is  the  seal  of  the  United  States,  and  the  border  is  a 
floriated  design  with  swans.  The  globe  and  several  chairs  here  also  belonged  to 
the  furniture  of  the  house.  A  spinet  and  two  fine  old  candlesticks  will  be  noticed, 
the  latter  standing  upon  a  beautiful  pier  table.  This  room  was  refurnished  by 
Illinois. 

The  first  door  on  the  left  opens  into  Mrs.  Washington^ s  Sitting-room,  refurnished 
by  Georgia  in  the  manner  of  the  period.  The  mahogany  secretary  once  stood  in 
Washington’s  military  headquarters  at  Cambridge,  Mass.;  and  the 
tables  and  mirror  are  historic.  Some  elaborate  candlesticks  and  a  Sitting’-room. 
sconce  for  candles  are  noteworthy,  and  the  latter  belonged  in  the 
family  ;  while  there  is  here  preserved  a  candle  molded  for  the  illumination  at  York- 
town  in  celebration  of  Cornwallis’  surrender.  The  engravings  representing  the  siege 
of  Gibraltar  hung  in  this  same  house  when  its  master  was  alive. 

The  Dining-room  is  next  beyond,  and  still  has  the  appearance  and  much  of  the 
furniture  of  the  time  of  its  illustrious  owner.  The  Italian  mantel  and  stucco  orna¬ 
ments  of  the  walls,  cornice,  and  ceiling  are  admirable ;  and  the  orna¬ 
mented  fireback  came  from  “  Belvoir,”  the  country  seat  of  Lord  Fairfax,  Difling-room. 
AVashington’s  early  friend  and  patron,  while  the  andirons  and  fender 
belong  to  the  Rutledge  house.  The  sideboard  was  AVashington’s.  and  the  cut-glass 
decanter  and  table  cutlery  and  cases  ;  while  the  china  in  the  corner  cupboard  is  a 
copy  of  the  set  given  to  Mrs.  AVashington  by  the  officers  of  the  French  fleet  in  1792. 
The  rug,  tables,  and  chairs  belong  to  that  period ;  and  among  the  portraits  of 
Revolutionary  generals  on  the  walls  is  one  of  Miss  Cunningham,  who  originated 
the  Mount  Vernon  Association. 

The  southern  end  of  the  house  is  occupied  by  a  second  stairway  and  by  a  large 
apartment  known  as  the  Library  in  which  are  gathered  an  original  mahogany 


170 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTOlSr. 


THE  BANQUET  HALL. 


bookcase,  and  a  few  of  the  volumes  which  belonged  to  Washington,  most  of  the  remain¬ 
der  of  which  are  now  in  the  Athenaeum  Library  of  Boston.  The  shelves 
Library.  of  the  bookcases  are  now  filled  mainly  with  duplicates  of  those  Wash¬ 
ington  possessed  and  with  literature  about  Washington  ;  and  upon  the 
walls  hang  reprints  of  documents  connected  with  his  public  life,  one  of  which  is  a 
printed  proof  of  the  Farewell  Address,  corrected  by  Washington’s  own  hand.  A  silver 
inkstand,  some  chairs,  a  painting  of  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  made  at  hia 
request,  and  a  few  small  articles  are  personal  relics. 

The  Banquet  Hall  is  an  addition  made  to  the  northern  end  of  the  house  after 
George  received  it  from  his  father.  Its  length  is  the  whole  breadth  of  the  mansion, 
and  its  richly  ornamented  ceiling  is  two  stories  in  height,  while  it  is 
Banquet  lighted  by  a  broad,  arched  and  mullioned  window.  Opposite  the  win- 
Hall.  dow  is  a  highly  ornate  fireplace  and  mantel  of  Italian  marble  and 

workmanship,  which  once  occupied  a  place  in  the  home  at  Wanstead, 
England,  of  Samuel  Vaughn,  who  brought  it  to  America  as  a  gift  to  Washington  in 
1785.  The  center  of  the  hall  is  occupied  by  a  great  table,  similar  to  the  original  one, 
upon  which  lies  Washington’s  “  plateau  ”  of  silver  and  mirror-gla.ss,  intended  as  an 
ornament  for  the  center  of  the  table  on  ceremonious  occasions.  His  punch  bowl  is 
also  to  be  seen  among  many  other  small  articles  of  use  or  ornament  that  were  in  the 
house,  and  which  are  now  safely  locked  in  a  cabinet.  The  model  of  the  Bastile,  a 
French  clock  that  still  keeps  good  time,  two  porcelain  vases,  silver  bracket  lamps,  a 
mirror,  rosewood  stands  for  flower  vases,  a  surveyor’s  tripod,  and  lesser  objects  are 
identified  with  the  house  and  its  owners;  while  a  lock  of  the  General’s  hair  and 
Martha’s  ivory  fan  are  peculiarly  personal  and  precious.  The  old  silk  standard  is 
reputed  to  have  been  captured  by  Washington  ;  and  visitors  should  examine  closely 
the  portrait  woven  upon  silk,  in  French  Jacquard  looms,  which  cost  $15,000,  so  elab¬ 
orate  a  process  was  required.  A  great  painting  by  Rembrandt  Peale  fills  the  west¬ 
ern  end  of  the  room,  which  has  been  fitted  up  by  New  York. 

Of  the  bedrooms  on  the  second  floor  the  most  interesting  to  all  is  that  of  the 
General  himself — the  jRoom  in  which  Washington  died.  It  is  at  the  south  end  of  the 
house,  over  the  library,  and  the  ladies  of  Virginia  have  been  able  to  restore  it  more 
nearly  to  its  original  appearance  than  any  other  part  of  the  house.  The  bed  is  in 


EXCtJRSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


171 


ROOM  IN  WHICH  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  DIED. 

the  same  place  and  the  same  one  upon  which  Washington  died,  and  the  chairs,  small 
tables,  and  mirror  were  a  part  of  the  scene.  The  hangings  of  the  win¬ 
dows  and  bedstead  copy  those  of  the  time  ;  two  cushions  were  worked  Death 

by  Martha  Washington  and  a  dimity  chair  cover  shows  the  needlework  Chamber, 

of  her  granddaughter;  while  parts  of  Washington’s  traveling  chest  and 
camp  equipage  remind  the  beholder  of  his  stormy  life.  There  is  little  else  in  the 
room  than  what  properly  belongs  there,  and  the  simplicity  is  impressive. 

Martha  Washington  died,  three  years  after  her  husband,  in  the  room  in  the  attic 
immediately  above  this  —  a  bedroom  she  had  chosen  because  his  room 
had  been  closed  (as  was  the  custom),  and  from  this  south  attic  window  Martha’s 

she  could  see  his  grave.  Wisconsin  has  refitted  her  room  as  nearly  as  Room, 

possible  as  it  was  when  Martha  slept  there,  but  only  the  corner  wash- 
stand  really  belonged  to  her.  Other  rooms  on  the  second  floor  are  known  by  special  names. 


ROOM  IN  WHICH  MARTHA  WASHINGTON  DIED. 


172 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  Lafayette  Rooin  is  so  called  because  the  Marquis  occupied  it  when  at  Mount  Vernon; 

it  was  refitted  by  New  Jersey.  The  River  Room,  by  rcMinsylvania,  con- 
Bedrooms.  tains  furniture  identified  with  Franklin  and  other  of  Washington’s 
friends  and  relatives.  The  Guest  Chamb(>r  is  due  to  Delaware;  the  Green 
Room  to  West  Virginia;  and  that  in  which  Nellie  Custis  slept  to  Maryland,  where  the 
bedstead  and  other  furniture  all  belonged  to  old  Southern  families  wlio  lived  in  a 
style  very  similar  to  that  at  Mount  Vernon.  The  Upper  Hall,  communicating  with 
these  bedrooms,  has  a  cabinet  in  which  are  to  be  seen  several  of  the  ^Mount  Vernon 
fire-buckets,  a  brown  suit  of  clothes,  with  velvet  waistcoat  and  silk  stockings  worn 
by  Washington,  and  a  compass  and  reading  glass  that  were  used  by  him,  as  well  as 
several  relics  of  members  of  his  family  and  descendants.  The  musket  was  brought 
to  America  by  Lafayette. 

Altic.  In  the  Attic  a  series  of  small  bedrooms  have  been  furnished  by  the 

vice-regents  of  various  States,  with  articles  of  colonial  manu¬ 
facture  and  interest. 


2.  To  Arlinjytoii  National  Cemetery  and  Fort  Meyer. 


Arlington,  an  estate  identified  in  a  peculiarly  intimate  manner  with  the  history  of 
the  founding  and  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  singularly  beautiful  withal,  would 
be  one  of  the  most  attractive  places  at  the  National  Capital  apart  fruin 
Beauty  of  the  sacred  interest  imparted  to  it  by  its  soldier  dead.  For  several  gen- 

the  Estate.  erations  before  the  Civil  War  the  home  of  the  Custis  and  Lee  families, 

it  has  been  devoted  since  that  time  to  the  purposes  of  the  foremost  of 
the  national  military  cemeteries.  Here,  behind  the  inscribed  .“^rches  of  the  great 
gates,  made  from  the  marble  pillars  of  the  old  War  Department  building,  and  under 


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ARLINGTON  HOUSE.  —  Formerly  +he  Home  of  Ger^eral  Robert  E.  Lee 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


173 


the  oaks  that  belonged  to  the  greatest  of  “  their  enemy,”  sleep  almost  a  score  of 
thousands  of  Union  soldiers,  and  every  year  sees  the  eternal  enlistment  in  their  ranks 
of  many  more  —  among  them  officers  of  rank  and  distinction  famous  for  deeds  that 
shall  make  their  names  immortal. 

Two  routes  may  be  taken  to  Arlington.  One  is  from  the  station  of  the  Washing¬ 
ton,  Alexandria  &  Mount  Vernon  Railway,  at  Twelfth  Street  and  Pennsylvania 
Avenue — cars  leave  every  half  hour,  stopping  at  “Sheridan”  gate 
and  Fort  Myer  gate;  fare,  20  cents  round  trip;  these  cars  run  to  Routes. 
Falls  Church.  The  other  route,  is  to  take  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
or  F  Street  cars  (if  the  F  Street  cars  are  taken,  descend  to  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
at  the  Union  Station)  to  Thirty-sixth  Street,  in  Georgetown,  and  transfer  to  electric 
cars  for  Rosslyn — Fort  Myer  and  the  northern  gate  of  Arlington  Cemetery.  This  is  a 
ride  of  hardly  ten  minutes,  and  the  whole  trip  from  the  Treasury  con¬ 
sumes  only  thirty-five  minutes  when  close  connection  is  made;  fare  Public 

from  Georgetown  15  cents;  round  trip  10  cents.  Public  carriages  Carriages, 
start  from  the  terminal  station  at  Fort  Myer  gate,  in  which  passen¬ 
gers  are  given  a  tour  of  the  cemetery  for  25  cents;  a  stop  of  five  minutes  is  made 
at  the  mansion,  where  a  lay-over  ticket  is  also  given  if  asked. 

The  distance  from  the  Fort  Myer  gate  to  the  Mansion,  following  the  main  road 
and  flagstone  walk,  is  about  a  third  of  a  mile,  and  shows  nearly  all  of  the  older  and 
more  cultivated  part  of  the  Cemetery.  Southward  of  the  path  the 
graves  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  spread  SoIdiCfS’ 

away  through  the  woods,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  each  marked  by  a  small  Graves, 

marble  headstone,  with  here  and  there  a  more  prominent  mark.  At 
intervals  are  placed,  in  front  of  this  fatal  and  impressive  array,  iron  tablets  bearing 
lines  or  stanzas  selected  from  Col.  Theodore  O’Hara’s  eloquent  poem, 


THE  BIVOUAC  OF  THE  DEAD. 


The  muffled  drum’s  sad  roll  has  heat 
The  soldier’s  last  tattoo  : 

No  more  on  life’s  parade  shall  meet 
That  brave  and  fallen  few. 

On  Fame’s  eternal  camping-ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 

And  Glory  guards,  with  solemn  round. 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 

No  rumor  of  the  foe’s  advance 
Now  swells  upon  the  wind  ; 

No  troubled  thought  at  midnight  haunts 
Of  loved  ones  left  behind. 

No  vision  of  the  morrow’s  strife 
The  warrior’s  dream  alarms. 

No  braying  horn  nor  screaming  fife 
At  dawn  shall  call  to  arms. 

The  neighing  troop,  the  flashing  blade, 
The  bugle’s  stirring  blast 

The  charge,  the  dreadful  cannonade, 

The  din  and  shout  are  past 


Sons  of  the  dark  and  bloody  ground. 

Ye  must  not  slumber  there. 

Where  stranger  steps  and  tongues  resound 
Along  the  heedless  air  ; 

Your  own  proud  land’s  heroic  soil 
Shall  be  your  fitter  grave  ; 

She  claims  from  war  its  richest  spoil  — 
The  ashes  of  her  brave. 

Rest  on,  embalmed  and  sainted  dead  I 
Dear  as  the  blood  ye  gave  ; 

No  impious  footsteps  here  shall  tread 
The  herbage  of  your  grave; 

Nor  shall  your  glory  be  forgot 
While  Fame  her  record  keeps. 

Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot 
Where  Valor  proudly  sleeps. 

Nor  wreck,  nor  change,  nor  winter’s  bligikt, 
Nor  time’s  remorseless  doom. 

Shall  dim  one  ray  of  holy  light 
That  gilds  your  glorious  tomb 


174  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

On  the  left,  or  north,  of  the  path  the  hillock  is  more  irregularly  dotted  with  mon¬ 
uments  to  commissioned  officers  of  the  army,  many  of  whom  were  distinguished  in 
the  Mexican  or  Indian  wars  previous  to  that  of  1861-65.  Beside  many 
Craves  of  of  them  rest  their  wives,  in  accordance  with  the  privilege  given  by  the 
Officers,  Government.  Here,  among  many  of  less  note,  rest  such  famous  com¬ 
manders  as  Belknap,  Burns,  Gleason,  Gregg,  Harvey,  Hazen,  Ingalls, 
King,  Kirk,  Lyford,  Meyer  (whose  idea  it  was  that  these  grounds  should  be  set  apart 
for  this  purpose),  McKibbin,  Paul,  Plummer,  Steadman,  Turtellotte,  and  many 
others;  and  the  monuments  are  often  exceedingly  appropriate.  The  interest 
increases  as  the  Mansion  is  approached.  This  noble  house,  whose  pillared  portico 
is  so  well  seen  from  the  city,  stands  upon  the  brow  of  a  magnificent 
Site  and  hill  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Federal  city  —  a 
View.  broad  and  beautiful  view.  On  the  brow  of  this  bluff  are  buried  officers 

of  special  distinction  and  popularity,  and  here  may  be  seen  the  graves 
and  monuments  of  some  of  the  Union’s  latest  and  most  distinguished  defenders. 
Here  lie  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  beneath  a  grand  memorial  stone ;  Admiral  David 
D.  Porter,  Maj.-Gen.  George  H.  Crook,  whose  monument  bears  a  bronze  bas-relief  of 
the  surrender  of  the  Apache  Geronimo ;  Maj.-Gen.  Abner  Doubleday,  the  historian  of 
Gettysburg;  Generals  Meigs,  Ricketts,  Benet  and  Watkins;  Colonel  Berdan, 
of  “ sharpshooter”  fame,  and  others.  In  the  rear  of  the  mansion  is  a 
Temple  of  miniature  temple  upon  whose  columns  are  engraved  the  names  of 

Fame,  great  American  soldiers;  and  a  lovely  amphitheater  of  columns,  vine- 

embowered,  where  Decoration  Day  ceremonies  and  open-air  burial 
services  may  be  conducted.  Near  it  is  a  great  granite  mausoleum  in  which  repose  the 
bones  of  2,111  unknown  soldiers  gathered  after  the  war  from  the  battle  field  of  Bull 
Run,  and  thence  to  the  Rappahannock.  It  is  surrounded  by  cannon  and  bears  a 
memorial  inscription.  Near  by,  in  a  lovely  glade,  is  buried  Gen.  Henry  W.  Lawton, 
killed  fighting  in  the  Philippines  in  the  autumn  of  1899. 

The  victims  of  the  destruction  of  the  battleship  Maine,  in  Havana,  and  several 
hundred  soldiers  who  lost  their  lives  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  during  the  war  with 
Spain,  in  1898,  are  buried  together  in  the  southern  part  of  the  cemetery. 
Soldiers  and  reached  by  a  pleasant  road,  winding  through  the  peopled  woods ;  and 
Sailors  of  their  monument  is  a  battery  of  great  naval  guns. 

the  Cuban  The  Arlington  mansion  is  a  fine  example  of  the  architecture  of  its 
War.  era,  and  resembles  Jefferson’s  mansion  at  Monticello.  Its  upper  fioor 

is  occupied  by  the  official  in  charge,  but  the  lower  rooms  are  mainly 
empty,  and  visitors  are  content  with  a  glance  at  them,  preferring  the  open  air  and 
light  of  the  lawns  and  gardens  about  the  house,  and  the  groves  that  now  cover  the 
adjacent  fields.  This  old  home  of  the  Colonial  aristocracy  is  not  only 
The  Mansion,  closely  identified  with  the  annals  of  early  Virginia,  but  with  the  polit¬ 
ical  development  of  the  country.  It  was  bought  as  a  tract  of  1,160  acres, 
for  £11,000,  by  John  Custis,  who,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  came  from  the 
Eastern  shore  to  live  on  his  new  property.  His  was  one  of  the  “first  families  of 
Virginia”  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  possessed  great  wealth;  but  he  had  various 
domestic  troubles,  one  of  which  was,  that  his  high-spirited  son,  Daniel  Parke  Custis, 
insisted  upon  neglecting  a  high-born  heiress,  prepared  by  his  parents  for  his  future 
consort,  and  marrying,  instead,  pretty  Martha  Dandridge,  the  belle  of 
Custis  Williamsburg,  the  Colonial  capital.  The  old  gentleman  was  very  angrj'. 

Family.  until  one  day,  we  are  told,  Martha  Dandxidge  met  him  at  a  social  gath¬ 

ering,  and  fairly  captivated  him.  The  marriage  was  made  and  prospered, 
and,  when  old  Custis  died,  his  son  and  wife  came  into  possession' and  resided 


VIEW  OF  WASHINGTON  FROM  ARLINGTON. 


176 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  FAME. 


here  at  Arlington,  where  Daniel  soon  died,  leaving  Martha  a  young  widow  with  two 
children,  John  Parke  and  Eleanor  Custis.  His  will  entailed  this  estate  to  his  son,  and 
divided  his  other  property,  the  wife  receiving,  as  her  share,  lands  and  securities  worth, 
perhaps,  $100,000.  In  due  time  this  rich  and  blooming  widow  re-entered  society, 
where  she  presently  became  acquainted  with  a  Colonial  colonel,  who  had  recently 
achieved  military  fame  in  Braddock’s  expedition  against  Fort  Diiquesne.  He  lived 
with  his  mother  at  Mount  Vernon,  only  fifteen  miles  below,  and  his  name  was  George 
Washington.  It  was  not  long  before  he  had  wooed  and  won  the  charming  and  opulent 
widow,  who  laid  aside  her  weeds  and  went  with  her  two  children  to  live  at  her  hus¬ 
band’s  home.  Together  they  managed  and  cared  for  the  Arlington  estate,  until  its 
young  owner  should  come  of  age,  and  both  were  often  there.  The  daughter  died,  but 
the  son  grew  to  manhood,  received  his  noble  property,  married  a  Calvert,  and  served 
upon  his  stepfather’s  staff  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Revolution.  Then  he,  too, 
died  (1781),  and  his  two  infant  children  were  adopted  by  Washington  and  deeply 
loved.  They  kept  their  own  names,  however,  and  Nelly,  who  seemed  to  have 
inherited  the  beauty  of  her  grandmother,  married  Major  Lewis,  a  Virginian.  Her 
brother,  George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  upon  reaching  his  majority,  inherited  and 
took  possession  of  Arlington,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  ;  and  immedi¬ 
ately  began  the  erection  of  the  present  mansion,  which,  therefore,  Washington  him.'Ji'lf 
never  saw,  since  he  died  December  13, 1799,  while  this  house  was  not  completed  until 
1803.  A  few  months  afterward,  Mr.  Custis  married  Mary  Lee  Fitzhugh,  one  of  the 
Randolphs,  and  four  children  were  born  to  them,  but  only  one  survived,  a  daughter, 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON 


177 


TOMB  OF  GENERAL  PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN 


178 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Mary.  The  Custis  family 
lived  at  Arlington,  improv¬ 
ing  and  beautifying  the 
estate,  winning  the  good 
opinion  of  all  who  knew 
them,  and  entertaining 
handsomely  until  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Custis,  in 
1853,  and  of  her  husband, 
the  last  male  of  his  family, 
in  1857.  The  estate  then 
fell  to  the  daughter,  who, 
meanwhile,  had  married 
a  young  army  officer,  Rob¬ 
ert  E.  Lee, 

The  Lees.  son  of 
“  Lighthorse 
Harry”  Lee,  the  dashing 
cavalryman  of  the  Revo¬ 
lution,  entwining  into  the  story  of  the  estate  another  strand  of  the  best  fabric  of  Vir¬ 
ginian  society.  Arlington  immediately  became  the  home  of  this  officer,  and  when 
the  Civil  War  came,  and  Colonel  Lee  went  out  of  the  Union  with  his  State,  his  great¬ 
est  personal  sacrifice,  no  doubt,  was  the  thought  of  leaving  Arlington.  Indeed,  so 
little  did  he  foresee  that  he  was  going  to  be  the  leader  of  a  four-years’  struggle,  that  he 
took  away  none  of  the  furniture,  and  very  few  even  of  the  great  number  of  relics  of 
AVashington,  many  of  intrinsic  as  well  as  historic  value,  which  the  house  contained. 
Federal  troops  at  once  took  possession  of  the  estate,  and  everything  of  historical  value 
was  seized  by  the  Government,  so  that  most  of  the  collection,  with  other  relics,  is  now 
to  be  seen  at  the  National  Museum.  Arlington  could  not  be  confiscated,  because 
entailed ;  but  the  non-payment  of  taxes  made  a  pretext  for  its  sale,  when  it  was 
bought  in  for  |23,000,  by  the  United  States  Government,  which  established  the 
military  cemetery  here  in  1864.  AVhen,  several  years  after  the  war,  G.  AV.  Custis  Lee 
inherited  the  estate,  he  successfully  disputed,  in  the  Supreme  Court,  the  legality  of 
the  tax-sale,  but  at  once  transferred  his  restored  rights  to  the  Government  for 
$150,000,  which  was  paid  him  in*  1884. 

The  return  from  Arlington  is  easily  and  pleasantly  made  by  walking  down  to 
one  of  the  gates  and  taking  the  cars  cf  the  AVashington,  Alexandria  &  Mount  A'ernon 
Railway  for  AVashington,  by  way  of  the  Long  Bridge.  Three  hours  will  suffice  to 
make  this  trip  satisfactorily.  The  grounds  remain  open  until  sunset. 

A  visit  to  Fort  Meyer  may  well  be  combined  with  this  excursion. 


3.  To  Fort  3Iyer, 

The  principal  military  post  near  Washington  is  located  on  the  Custis  estate  —  of 
nearly  two  square  miles,  with  a  mile  frontage  on  the  Potomac,  opposite  the  city.  It  was 
occupied  by  the  military  forces  when  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee  resigned  from  the  army  in 
1861.  Officers  and  privates  who  died  of  wounds  in  hospitals  near  Washington  were 
interred  in  one  section  and  the  remainder  was  used  during  the  war  for  fortifications, 
store  houses,  and  drill  grounds  for  military  service,  and  as  a  refuge  for  the  slaves  of  the 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


179 


South.  After  peace  was  established  many  of  the  earthworks  were  razed  and  now  officer’s 
quarters,  barracks,  drill  hall,  and  hospital,  on  well  paved  streets,  make 
Sig^nal  Corps  a  model  army  post.  Recently  a  section  has  been  allotted  to  the  signal 

Post.  corps  —  a  large  balloon  house,  electric  buildings,  signal  apparatus,  and 
officers’  and  privates’  quarters  add  greatly  to  the  interest  visitors  show 
in  military  works,  and  to  the  importance  of  this  United  States  reservation.  The  only 
rail  route  to  Fort  Myer  is  by  trolley  car  from  Aqueduct  Bridge,  a  distance  of  two  miles, 
and  an  elevation  of  two  hundred  feet  being  traversed  in  about  five  minutes.  The 
track  and  roadbed  of  this  line  are  on  private  right-of-way,  and  of  standard  construction 
throughout.  Climbing  this  terrace  of  the  Potomac  Valley  are  views  of  the  river  and  its 
bridges,  the  Capitol,  Washington’s  Monument,  White  House,  and  other  Government 
buildings.  Arriving  at  the  Summit  Station,  on  one  side  is  seen  the  Arlington  National 
Cemetery  with  its  marble  columns  embowered  amid  magnificent  oak  trees.  On  the 
other  side  the  Fort  Myer  buildings  are  in  contrast,  a  city  of  military  life.  Beyond, 
toward  Columbia  and  Nauck  Springs,  is  the  parade  ground,  a  rolling  table-land.  The 
railway  extends  two  miles  farther,  giving  visitors  to  Washington  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  most  prominent  and  interesting  points  in  the  center  of  Alexandria  County. 
Tickets  and  all  information  as  to  points  of  interest,  and  every  convenience  for  travelers 
are  found  at  the  railway  stations.  At  the  Rosslyn  Station,  which  is  also  a  post  office, 
there  is  a  good  lunch  and  dining  room.  The  electric  line  runs  over  the  bridge  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  cars.  Nearly  everyone,  however,  prefers  to  walk  across  the 
bridge  and  enjoy  the  views  of  beautiful  Analostan  Island — for  many  years  the  home  of 
the  famous  Mason  family  of  Virginia,  Large  factories  are  also  seen  in  Rosslyn,  and  the 
Alexandria  County  Court  House,  on  the  Falls  Church  line,  near  Fort  Myer,  although  a 
modern  building,  contains  numerous  historical  records. 

4.  To  Falls  Church,  Virg^inia. 

Nestling  among  the  green  hills  of  old  Virginia,  at  an  altitude  of  nearly  400  feet,  and 
distant  but  six  miles  from  the  city  of  Washington,  lies  the  historic  and  beautiful  town 
of  Falls  Church;  historic  as  containing  one  of  the  oldest  churches  of  the  State,  where 
Washington  formerly  worshiped,  and  as  the  scene  of  many  skirmishes  during  the 
prolonged  civil  strife,  and  the  camping  ground  of  both  armies;  beautiful  both  from  the 
hands  of  nature  and  of  man.  Situated  in  an  elevated  valley,  protected  by  the  sur¬ 
rounding  hills  from  the  violent  storms  which  sweep  over  the  prairies  and  low  lands, 
this  romantic  spot  was  selected,  directly  after  the  Civil  War,  as  the  homes  of  enterprising 
Western  and  New  England  citizens  who  were  attracted  to  it  by  its  beauties  and  many 
natural  advantages.  Most  of  these  citizens,  being  employed  in  the  Government  service, 
have  sufficient  means  to  beautify  their  homes,  which  they  have  done  by  planting  shade 
trees,  making  beautiful  lawns,  flower  gardens,  etc.  According  to  the  last  census,  the 
nominal  inhabitants  of  the  town  are  1,007,  but  the  number  is  nearly  doubled  during  the 
summer  months  by  the  influx  of  Washington  City  people,  who  delight  to  spend  the 
heated  term  in  a  cool  and  healthy  locality,  free  from  malaria  and  mosquitoes.  Its 
inhabitants  are  cosmopolitan,  being  originally  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
little  town  is  incorporated  and  has  a  mayor,  council,  town  sergeant,  and  clerk.  It  lies 
partially  within  the  limits  of  the  original  District  of  Colum.bia  (now  known  as  Alexandria 
County)  and  partially  within  Fairfax  County.  It  is  easily  accessible  by  two  railroads  — 
the  W.  &  O.  Branch  of  the  Southern  Railway  passing  through  the  eastern  boundary,  and 
the  Washington,  Arlington  &  Falls  Church  Electric  Railway  passing  from  the  east  to  the 
west  end  of  the  village.  Cars  leave  the  Aqueduct  Bridge  on  the  electric  road  every  hour 
during  the  day  until  three  o’clock,  and  every  half  hour  thereafter,  and  every  half  hour  on 


180 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


Sundays  and  holidays,  making  the  trip  to  Falls  Church  in  about  twenty  minutes,  the 
rate  for  the  round  trip  being  twenty-five  cents  and  to  West  End  thirty  cents.  This  road 
also  makes  a  commutation  rate  of  seven  cents  per  trip.  ]\[any  of  the  business  men  of 
Washington,  realizing  the  healthfulness  and  advantages  of  the  Falls  Church  locality, 
have  settled  there,  notable  among  whom  is  A.  M.  Lothrop,  of  the  firm  of  Woodward  & 
Lothrop,  who  has  purchased  a  large  farm  which  he  has  improved  with  every  modern 


'."S 


RESIDENCE  OF  A.  M.  LOTHROP,  FALLS  CHURCH,  VA. 


convenience;  Messrs.  Rufus  and  Rezin  Darby  have  also  erected  large  and  substantial 
dwellings  near  there.  The  late  Gen.  H.  W.  Lawton  formerly  resided  there,  owning  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  places  in  the  center  of  the  town.  Admiral  Porter  at  one  time  owned 
a  cottage  there,  and  Dr.  P.  M.  Rixey  has  recently  purchased  a  large  stock  farm  which 
he  is  rapidly  improving.  Several  retired  army  and  naval  officers  have  also  located  there. 
Falls  Church  is  strictly  a  temperance  town,  no  license  for  the  sale  of  liquor  having  been 
granted  there  for  many  years.  Its  public  schools  are  of  a  high  order,  and  it  also 
maintains  a  high  school.  Among  the  public  institutions  of  the  town  is  the  Virginia 
Training  School  for  Feeble-minded  Children,  and  a  public  library.  It  has  churches  of 
nearly  every  denomination,  the  oldest  of  which  is  the  Episcopal  Church,  erected  in  1747 
and  still  occupied.  Telegraph  and  telephone  lines  give  rapid  communication  to  all 
parts  of  the  country.  A  telephone  exchange  is  maintained  there  centralizing  the  tele¬ 
phone  business  of  all  that  section  of  the  country,  and  from  there  messages  are  transmitted 
over  trunk  lines  to  all  long-distant  points.  Falls  Church  is  a  desirable  place  in  which 
to  reside,  and  a  delightful  place  to  visit.  It  is  well  supplied  with  physicians,  dentists, 
lawyers,  and  other  professional  men;  has  a  good  hotel,  livery  stables,  and  several  large 
boarding  houses,  the  “Falls  Church  Inn,”  and  the  “ Evergreens ”  being  the  principal 
summer  resorts.  Many  historical  points  of  the  country  are  easily  accessible  from  Falls 
Church.  Fairfax  Court  House,  the  county  seat  of  Fairfax  County,  is  only  eight  miles 
distant.  Washington’s  original  will,  in  his  own  handwriting,  is  deposited  with  the 
county  clerk,  who  is  the  official  custodian.  He  also  has  in  his  possession  many  other 
old  and  valuable  documents.  Capt.  Jos.  E.  Willard  and  many  other  prominent  men 


EXCURSIOlSrS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


181 


reside  there.  The  battle-fields  of  Bull  Run  and  Manassas  are  a  short  distance  west  and 
easily  accessible  by  driving  over  a  beautiful  undulating  country.  Munson’s  Hill,  the 
place  where  McClellan  reviewed  his  magnificent  army,  is  a  little  over  a  mile  south  of 
Falls  Church.  Camp  Alger  is  located  near  Falls  Church,  the  site  being  selected  by 
Secretary  Alger  on  account  of  its  known  healthfulness  and  abundance  of  pure  water. 
In  going  to  Falls  Church  over  the  electric  road  the  county  of  Alexandria  is  traversed 
from  east  to  west,  passing  the  new  county  court  house,  recently  erected,  and  passing 
near  the  old  Caleb  Cushing  mansion,  as  well  as  many  other  beautiful,  well-kept  country 
residences.  Alexandria  County  is  rapidly  increasing  in  population.  Many  wealthy  people 
have  recently  located  there,  having  homes  on  the  heights  overlooking  the  Potomac. 
The  tourist  can  not  spend  a  more  profitable  or  pleasant  day  than  to  take  a  trip  over  the 
electric  line  to  Falls  Church,  and  from  thence  to  some  of  the  historical  points  men¬ 
tioned. 

“The  Falls”  (Episcopal)  Church  was  erected  in  the  year  1747  by  the  reigning  monarch 
of  England,  the  brick  used  in  the  structure  being  brought  from  that  country.  This 
church  was  one  of  the  several  erected  along  the  Potomac  and  James  rivers  about  that 
time,  and  this  being  located  nearest  to  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  was  called  “The 
Falls  Church,  ”  and  from  that  the  town  derived  its  name.  Regular  services  are  still 
maintained  and  the  church  is  kept  as  near  as  possible  in  its  original  condition  Many 
visitors  are  attracted  to  it  on  account  of  its  ancient  appearance,  and  historical  connection. 


FALLS  CHURCH  (EPISCOPAL).  FALLS  CHURCH,  VA. 


182 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


VIRGINIA  HOME  AND  TRAINING  SCHOOL  FOR  THE  FEEBLE  MINDED.  FALLS  CHURCH,  VA. 


Washington  having  used  it  as  a  place  of  worship  prior  to  the  erection  of  the  Pohick 
Chapel.  Another  account  of  Falls  Church  is  as  follows: 

Falls  Church  (Episcopal)  was  erected  in  1773,  for  £600.  Christ  Church,  Alexandria, 
was  built  the  same  year,  and  of  both  churches  General  Washington  was  a  vestryman. 
The  contract  for  Falls  Church  was  taken  by  James  Wrenn,  who  was  to  be  paid  either  in 
currency  or  its  equivalent  —  32,000  pounds  of  tobacco.  It  was  furnished  after  the  old 
style,  with  box  pews,  a  high,  wine-glass  pulpit,  and  tablets  on  either  side  the  chancel 
with  the  decalogue  and  the  Lord’s  prayer  in  large  letters.  The  floor  was  laid  with  tiles, 
undoubtedly  imported.  The  church  fell  into  disuse  before  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
and  was  in  an  abandoned  state  for  a  number  of  years,  the  roof  having  fallen  in  and  cattle 
flnding  shelter  within  its  walls.  Afterward  it  was  repaired  by  ]\Ir.  Henry  Fairfax,  a 
grandson  of  the  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax,  at  his  own  expense  and  thoroughly  restored.  It 
was  long  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  R.  Templeman  Brown  as  rector,  and  was  in  a  flourishing 
condition  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  United 
States  troops,  first  as  a  hospital  and  subsequently  as  a  stable,  the  pews,  pulpit,  tablets, 
floor,  and  even  a  part  of  the  walls  being  destroyed.  After  the  war  it  was  repaired,  cheaifly, 
and  has  been  used  since  as  a  place  of  worship,  though  in  a  languishing  state. 

Its  communion  service,  the  gift  of  friends,  is  of  solid  silver,  mostly  from  plate  and 
from  the  sale  of  watches,  jewelry,  etc.,  given  for  the  purpose. 

Its  churchyard  has  numerous  graves,  and  some  ancient  tombstones  are  still  to  be 
seen.  The  present  sexton,  Mr.  John  L3mch,  has,  in  the  thirtv-four  }'ears  he  has  held 
that  position,  buried  there  262  persons,  mostly  people  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  Virginia  Home  and  Training  School  for  the  Feeble-minded  was  established  in 
1893,  and  is  the  only  private  institu  Jon  of  the  kind  in  the  South.  It  receives,  at  reason¬ 
able  rates,  all  classes  of  the  feeble-minded,  and  its  equipment  and  accommodations  are  of 
the  best.  The  house  is  large  and  comfortable  with  all  modern  conveniences.  The 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


183 


grounds  are  beautiful  and  extensive,  affording  ample  room  for  exercise  and  games.  For 
full  particulars  address,  MissM,  Gundry,  Falls  Church,  Va. 

5.  To  the  Soldiers’  Home,  Rock  Creek  Church,  Fort  Stevens, 
Battle  and  National  Cemeteries,  the  Catholic 
University,  and  Brookland. 

The  Soldiers’  Home  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  noble  park,  with  a  wide  outlook  from 
high  grounds  directly  north  of  the  Capitol,  from  which  it  is  distant  four  miles  in  a 
straight  line.  It  is  a  favorite  terminus  for  driving  and  bicycling,  beautiful  roads  lead¬ 
ing  thither  from  the  head  of  Connecticut  Avenue  or  Fourteenth  Street,  and  less 
desirable  ones  returning  through  the  northeastern  quarter  of  the  city.  Two  lines  of 
street  cars  approach  the  Soldiers’  Home,  giving  the  tourist  an  alternate 
Route*  route  going  and  coming ;  and  he  should  devote  the  better  part  of  a 

day  to  this  excursion.  The  direct  route  out  is  by  the  cars  north  on 

Ninth  Street,  to  the  Eagle  or  western  gate  of  the  Soldiers’  Home  grounds.  A 
short  distance  beyond  the  boundary,  at  the  right  of  the  road,  are  seen  the  tall 
brick  buildings  of  Howard  University — a  collegiate  institution 
Howard  founded  soon  after  the  war,  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  Freedmen’s 

University.  Bureau,  for  the  education  of  colored  youths  of  both  sexes.  Its  first 

president  was  Maj.-Gen.  O.  O.  Howard  (who  had  resigned  from  the 
army  temporarily  to  undertake  this  work),  and  it  has  maintained  itself  as  a 
flourishing  institution,  having  some  three  hundred  students  annually. 


THE  SOLDIERS'  HOME. 


184 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


The  new  Distributing  Reservoir,  to  which  the  famous  and  incomplete  “  Lydecker 
Tunnel  ”  was  intended  to  carry  water  from  the  Potomac  conduit,  occupies  the  high 
ground  north  of  the  university. 

The  ride  out  to  the  end  of  this  road,  at  the  District  limits,  is  a  very  pleasant  one 
all  the  way ;  and  if  one  is  fond  of  walking,  he  can  do  well  by  going  on  through  the 
suburban  villages  of  Potworth  and  Brightwood  to  Silver  Springs  and 
Takoma  —  the  latter  a  station  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  almost  Country 

at  the  extreme  northern  corner  of  the  District.  It  is  then  a  very  Roads, 

pleasant  w^alk  back  to  the  Soldiers’  Home,  along  the  Blair  and  Rock 
Creek  Church  roads,  near  the  railroad,  which  are  bordered  by  luxuriant  hedges  of 
osage  orange.  This  is  a  fair  country  road  for  bicycles.  Extensions  of  electric  lines 
are  progressing,  one  line  now  reaching  to  Forest  Glen,  Maryland. 

Near  Brightwood,  in  plain  view  off  at  the  left  as  you  go  out  upon  the  cars,  are  the 
crumbling  parapets  of  Fort  Stevens,  which  was  one  of  the  agencies  in  protecting  the 
city  against  Confederate  attack  in  1864,  when  fighting  occurred  all  through  these 
woods  and  fields. 

Early’s  Raid,  in  July,  1864,  was  the  only  serious  war  scare  AVashington  had,  but 
it  was  enough.  Panic-stricken  people  from  the  Maryland  villages  came  flocking  in 
along  this  road,  bringing  such  of  their  household  goods  as  they  could 
carry.  For  two  or  three  days  the  city  was  cut  off  from  communication  Early’s  Raid, 
with  the  outside  world,  except  by  way  of  the  Potomac  River.  The  dis¬ 
trict  militia  was  reinforced  by  every  able-bodied  man  who  could  be  swept  up. 
Department  clerks  were  mustered  into  companies  and  sent  to  the  trenches,  with  any 
odds  and  ends  of  fighting  material  that  could  be  gathered.  There  was  an  immense 
commotion,  but  the  capital  was  never  so  demoralized  as  was  alleged  of  it  at  the 
time.  Within  forty-eight  hours,  from  one  source  and  another,  60,000  men  had 
been  gathered.  Meanwhile  the  stubborn  resistance  made  some  miles  up  the  river,  by 
Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  whose  wide  reputation  as  the  author  of  “  Ben  Hur,'’  “The  Fair 
God,”  etc.,  was  still  to  come,  who  delayed  the  invading  host  against  frightful  odds 
until  the  fortifications  were  well  manned,  had  saved  the  city  from  being  sacked  and 
the  President  from  capture.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  AV allace’s  prompt  and 
courageous  action  did  this  thing.  Wallace  was  forced  back,  of  course,  but  when 
Early  got  him  out  of  the  way  and  reached  the  defenses  north  of  the  city,  he  found 
the  old  Sixth  Corps  there,  and,  contenting  himself  with  a  brisk  skirmish  in  the  fields 
in  front  of  Fort  Stevens,  he  fled,  carrying  away  the  plunder  of  hundreds  of  desolated 
Maryland  farmhouses.  The  President  was  not  only  intensely  anxious  but  eagerly 
interested.  Noah  Brooks,  in  nis  ‘‘Washington  in  Lincoln’s  Time,”  says  of  him: 
“  He  went  out  to  Fort  Stevens  during  the  skirmish  .  .  .  on  July  12,  and  repeat¬ 

edly  exposed  himself  in  the  coolest  manner  to  the  fire  of  the  rebel  sharpshooters. 
He  had  once  said  to  me  that  he  lacked  physical  courage,  although  he  had  a  fair 
share  of  the  moral  quality  of  that  virtue  ;  but  his  calm  unconsciousness  of  danger, 
while  the  bullets  were  flying  thick  and  fast  about  him,  was  ample  proof  that  he 
would  not  have  dropped  his  musket  and  run,  as  he  believed  he  cer¬ 
tainly  would,  at  the  first  sign  of  physical  danger.”  Battle 

Those  killed  in  this  affair  were  buried  in  the  little  cemetery  by  Cemetery, 
the  Methodist  Church,  now  called  Battle  Cemetery. 

The  Soldiers’  Home  is  the  forerunner  and  type  of  those  which  were  erected  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  after  the  Civil  AVar,  but  it  is  not  in  the  same  class.  It  is 
an  institution  established  in  1851  ^by  the  efforts  of^Gen.  AVinfield  Scott,  and  out  of  cer¬ 
tain  funds  received  from  Mexico,  as  a  retreat  for  veterans  of  the  Mexican  AA^ar,  and 
for  men  of  the  regular  army  who  have  been  disabled  or  who,  by  twenty  years  of 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


185 


honorable  service  and  a  payment  of  12  cents  a  month,  have  acquired  the  right  of 
residence  there  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  This  gives  the  veterans  a  pleasing  sense 
of  self-support,  in  addition  to  which  many  are  able  to  earn  money  by  working  about 
the  buildings  and  grounds  and  in  various  ways.  There  are  ordinarily 
History  of  about  five  hundred  men  there,  who  live  under  a  mild  form  of  military 
Soldiers*  discipline  and  routine,  wear  the  uniform  of  the  army,  and  are  governed 

Hone.  by  veteran  officers.  The  affairs  of  the  Home,  which  has  now  a  fund  of 

over  $1,000,000  and  a  considerable  independent  income,  are  adminis¬ 
tered  by  a  board  composed  of  the  general  of  the  army  and  his  principal  assistants  at 
the  War  Department. 

“  The  main  building  is  of  white  marble,  three  stories  in  height,  and  is  fashioned 
after  the  Norman  order  of  architecture.  On  the  grounds  are  several  elegant  marble 
cottages  occupied  by  the  officials,  a  pretty  church  of  Seneca  stone,  a  capacious  hospi¬ 
tal  building  with  wide  piazzas,  from  which  charming  views  of  Washington  and  the 
Potomac  can  be  had,  a  fine  library  building,  well  stocked  with  books  and  periodicals, 
and  numerous  other  structures.  On  the  brow  of  one  of  the  hills  stands  a  bronze 
statue  of  General  Scott,  by  Launt  Thompson,  erected  by  the  Home  in  1874,  at  a  cost 
of  $18,000.  The  entire  estate  is  inclosed 
by  a  stone  wall,  surmounted  by  a  small 
iron  fence  of  handsome  design.  Fifty 
acres  are  under  cultivation,  and  fine 
crops  of  fruits  and  vegetables  are 
raised. 

“Near  the  main  building  is  a  large 
cottage  often  used  by  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  as  a  summer  residence. 

It  is  surrounded  by  noble  trees,  and  has 
a  very  attractive  appearance.  Pierce  was 
the  first  President  to  pass  the  summer 
here,  and  Buchanan,  Lincoln,  Johnson, 

Hayes,  and  Arthur  have  preferred  its 
quiet  comfort  to  the  statelier  life  in  the 
White  House.” 

In  the  rear  of  the  Home,  on  the 
wooded  slope  beyond  Hare  wood  Road, 
lies  one  of  the  national  military  ceme¬ 
teries,  entered  by  an  arch  upon  whose 
pillars  are  inscribed  the 
Cemetery.  names  of  great  Union 
commanders  in  the  Civil 
War.  Here  rest  the  remains  of  about 
5,500  Federal  and  271  Confederate  sol¬ 
diers,  less  than  300  of  whom  are  un¬ 
known.  The  grounds  contain  a  pretty 
stone  chapel,  in  which  lies  the  body  of 
Gen.  John  A.  Logan. 

Rock  Creek  Church  and  its  beautiful 
cemetery,  northeast  of  the  Soldiers’ 

Home,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  fine 

Rock  Creek  Church  Road,  are  worth  statue  of  general  Winfield  scott 

examination.  Soldiers'  Home.  By  Launt  Thompson. 


186 


PICTORIAL  GUIDP]  TO  WASHINGTON. 


MEMORY.”  — By  Partridge.  Rock  Creek  Cemetery. 


This  is  the  oldest  house  of  worship 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  near  it, 
and  was  erected  in  1719,  by  the  planters 
of  the  neighborhood,  of  bricks  imported 
from  England  as  ballast  in  empty  tobacco 
ships.  It  was  remodeled,  however,  in 
1868,  and  now  appears  as  a  small  steeple¬ 
less  structure  nearly  hidden  among  great 
trees  and  surrounded  by  ancient  graves 
and  vaults,  whose  tablets  bear  the  names 
of  the  foremost  of  the  old  Maryland 
families  and  early  Washingtonians.  The 
oldest  graves  are  nearest  the  church;  and 
one  headstone  is  pitted  with  marks  of 
minie  balls,  showing  that  some  soldiers 
have  used  it  as  a  convenient  target. 
The  cemetery  is  still  used,  and  contains 
two  splendid  bronze  mortuary  statues, 
one  of  which,  by  St.  Gaudens,  at  the 
grave  of  Mrs.  Adams,  is 
that  mysterious  veiled  Memorial 

sitting  figure  entitled,  StatUCS. 
“Peace  of  God,”  which 
is  famous  throughout  the  art  world. 
The  monument  ab  *ve  the  grave  of  Peter  Force  is  also  of  much  interest.  In  Mrs. 
Lockwood’s  ‘‘  Historic  Homes”  will  be  found  a  long  incidental  account  of  the  history 
of  this  sacred  spot  and  the  relics  still  used  in  the  service  of  the  old  church. 

A  delightful  homeward  way  is  to  walk 
across,  a  mile  or  so,  through  the  paths 
of  the  Soldiers’  Home  park  to  the  termi¬ 
nus  of  the  North  Capitol  Electric  line; 
but  many  will  be  interested,  instead, 
to  go  around  the  Military  Cemetery,  and 
up  the  hill  to  the  right,  where,  in  the 
woods,  may  still  be  seen  the  star-shaped 
embankments  of  Fort  Totten,  with 
numerous  rifle-pits  and  outworks.  This 
is  one  of  the  best  preserved  and  most 
accessible  of  the  old  forts,  and  its  parapets 
command  a  wide  and  beautiful  landscape. 

From  Fort  Totten  the  Harewood  Road 
may  easily  be  reached  and  followed 
s  ;uthward  along  the  eastern  side  of  the 
park  until  it  emerges  upon  the  campus 
of  the  Catholic  University. 

This  is  the  national  institution  of 
higher  learning  established  by  all  the 
Catholic  bishops  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore, 

and  is  regarded  by  Pope  Leo  XHI  as  one  ‘‘grief."  — By  Augustus  st.  Gaudens. 

of  the  chief  honors  of  his  pontificate.  Rock  Creek  Cemetery. 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


187 


The  grounds  comprise  seventy  acres,  and  the  visitor  is  at  once  struck  by  the  stately 
appearance  of  the  structures  already  erected.  Divinity  Hall  was 
Catholic  erected  in  1889.  It  is  a  solid  stone  structure  of  266  feet  front 

University.  and  five  stories  in  height ;  the  lower  floor  is  given  up  to  classrooms, 

museums,  and  the  library;  the  upper  floors  are  occupied  with  the  lodg¬ 
ings  of  the  professors  and  students  of  the  department  of  divinity ;  the  top  story  is  a 
well-equipped  gymnasium.  The  Divinity  Chaptl  is  admired  by  all  visitors.  The  build¬ 
ing  to  the  right  is  known  as  the  McMahon  Hall  of  Philosophy,  and  was  dedicated  in 
1895.  It  is  built  of  granite  throughout,  is  250  feet  front,  and  five  stories  high.  It 
consists  entirely  of  lecture-rooms,  classrooms,  laboratories,  and  museums.  It  accom¬ 
modates  two  great  schools  or  faculties,  each  comprising  several  departments  of  study. 
The  School  of  Philosophy  comprises  departments  of  philosophy  proper,  letters, 
mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  has  attached  to  it  a  department  of 
technology  giving  full  instruction  in  civil,  mechanical,  and  electrical  engineering.  The 
School  of  the  Social  Sciences  comprises 
departments  of  ethics  and  sociology, 
economics,  political  science,  and  law. 

The  former  faculty  leads  up  to  the 
degree  of  Ph.  D.,  the  latter  to  all  degrees 
in  law.  Immediately  adjoining  the 
university  are  three  affiliated  colleges, 
called  St.  Thomas’  College,  the  Marist 
College,  and  the  Holy  Cross  College. 

Each  of  these  contains  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  students  of  philosophy  and  the¬ 
ology,  and  their  professors.  They  attend 
courses  in  the  university.  The  divinity 
courses  are  attended  only  by  ecclesias¬ 
tics  of  the  Catholic  Church.  To  the 
legal,  philosophical,  and  scientific 
courses  lay  students  are  admitted,  with¬ 
out  regard  to  their  religious  creed. 

The  old  country  village  and  present 
suburb  of  Brookland  lies  just  beyond, 
and  farther  on  are  Hyattsville  and  other 
suburban  residence  centers,  reached  by 
the  Eckington  line  of  electric  railway, 
which  extends  northeast  as  far  as  Balt¬ 
imore,  Maryland.  The  time  of  returning 

from  the  University  and  Soldiers’  Home  Station  by  this  line  is  about 
Suburban  twenty-five  minutes.  Just  south  of  the  station,  west  of  the  suburban 

Towns.  district  of  Edgewood,  through  which  the  line  passes  are  the  Glen  wood. 

Prospect  Hill,  and  St.  Mary’s  (Roman  Catholic)  cemeteries,  which  contain 
the  graves  of  many  famous  persons,  and  some  tall  monuments.  Nearer  the  city  line  is 
the  fine  suburb,  Eckington,  in  the  midst  of  which,  upon  a  beautifully  wooded  hill,  is 
the  Colonial  building  of  the  Eckington  Hotel,  open  in  summer.  This  line  enters  the 
city  along  New  York  Avenue,  and  terminates  at  the  Treasury. 


188  PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 

6.  To  the  “Zoo,”  Rock  Creek  National  Park,  and  Chevy  Chase. 


This  is  an  excursion  into  the  northern  and  most  beautiful  corner  of  the  District, 
reached  by  taking  the  Chevy  Chase  cars  which  run  out  Fourteenth  Street  to 
Chevy  Chase,  or  take  the  Seventh  Street  cars  which  run  out  Seventh 
Street  and  U  Street  to  the  Rock  Creek  Bridge,  and  transfer  to  the  Routes. 
Chevy  Chase  Line. 

The  New  Jersey  Avenue  Line,  operating  via  New  Jersey  Avenue  and  U 
Street,  also  affords  a  convenient  method  of  reaching  this  same  Transfer  Station. 

The  Mount  Pleasant  cars,  operating  along  F  Street,  H  Street,  Connecticut 
Avenue  and  Columbia  Road,  also  run  to  within  easy  walking  distance  of  the  Zoo 
at  Quarry  Road  and  Irving  Street.  It  is  open  all  day  including  Sunday. 

Previous  to  its  organization  and  the  pun-hase  of  this  site  of  about  167  acres,  in 
1890,  the  National  Museum  had  accumulated  by  gift  many  live  animals,  but  had  no 
means  of  caring  for  them  ;  these  at  once  became  the  nucleus  of  the 
new  collection,  which  was  placed  under  the  general  charge  of  the  Zoolog^ical 

Smithsonian  Institution,  with  Frank  Baker,  M.D.,  as  superintendent.  Park, 

Two  definite  objects  have  been  in  view"  here.  The  original  idea  was 
not  a  park  for  public  exhibition  purposes  —  a  popular  “  Zoo  ” — but  a  reservation  in 
which  there  might  be  bred  and  maintained  representatives  of  many  American  ani¬ 
mals  threatened  with  extinction.  Congress,  how^ever,  enlarged  and  modified  this 
notion  by  adding  the  exhibition  features,  making  the  place  a  pleasure-ground  as  well 
as  an  experiment  station,  and  consequently  imposing  upon  the  District  of  Columbia 
one-half  the  cost  of  its  purchase  and  maintenance.  Nevertheless,  the  managers  do 
all  they  can  to  carry  out  the  original,  more  scientific  intention. 

A  w"alk  of  five  minutes  from  the  cars  at  the  gate  brings  the  visitor  to  the  principal 
Animal  House,  which  is  a  commodious  stone  building,  w-ell  lighted  and  w-ell  venti¬ 
lated,  and  having  on  its  southern  side  an  annex  of  very  fine  outdoor  cages,  w"here 
the  great  carnivora  and  other  beasts  dw"ell  in  warm  w'eather.  The  collection  is  not 
very  large,  as  the  funds  do  not  at  present  allow  of  the  purchase  of  animals,  which 
must  be  obtained  by  gift  or  exchange.  Captures  in  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 
are  permitted  for  the  benefit  of  this  garden,  and  have  supplied  many  specimens. 

The  hardier  animals  (except  a  few"  antelopes  and  kangaroos,  w'hich  have  a  stable) 
are  quartered  out  of  dooi-s  all  the  year  round  in  w  ire  enclosures  scattered  about  the 
grounds.  These  are  all  healthy  and  happy  to  a  gratifying  degree,  and 
as  a  result  they  produce  young  freely.  The  herds  of  bison,  elk,  and  Animals, 
deer  w"ere  recruited  mainly  from  the  Yellow"stone  Park.  The  former 
occupy  adjacent  paddocks  upon  the  rising  ground  north  of  the  animal  house,  and  the 
latter  enjoy  extensive  pastures  and  a  picturesque  thatched  stable  somewhat  to  the 
east,  on  a  hillside  sloping  down  to  Rock  Creek.  In  another  quarter  are  to  be  seen 
the  cages  of  the  w"olves,  foxes,  and  dogs.  The  beavers,  how’ever,  probably  constitute 
the  most  singular  and  interesting  of  all  the  features  of  the  garden  at  present.  They 
consist  of  a  colony  in  the  wooded  ravine  of  a  little  branch  of  Rock  Creek,  where  they 
cut  down  trees,  burrow  in  the  banks  of  the  stream,  and  construct  dams  and  houses, 
precisely  as  in  a  state  of  nature.  The  Bear  Dens  are  the  best  of  their  kind  in  the 
country,  being  rude  caves  blasted  out  of  the  cliflf  left  by  an  abandoned  quarry,  which 
form  natural  retreats  for  their  big  tenants. 

An  alternative  w"ay  out  of  the  garden  is  to  climb  the  rustic  stairway  near  the  Bear 
Dens,  and  walk  a  few  rods  to  an  intersection  where  either  the  Chevy  Chase, 
Seventh  Street,  New  Jersey  Avenue  or  Mount  Pleasant  cars  intersect. 

Chevy  Chase  is  a  charming  suburb,  just  beyond  the  District  line,  at  the  extremity 
of  Connecticut  Avenue  Extended,  which  is  cut  straight  across  the  broken  and 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


189 


picturesque  region  west  of  Rock  Creek.  The  forested  gorge  of  this  romantic  stream, 
east  of  the  avenue,  and  embracing  most  of  the  region  between  it  and 
Chevy  Chase,  proposed  extension  of  Sixteenth  Street,  or  “Executive  Avenue,” 
has  been  acquired  and  reserved  by  the  Government  as  a  public  park; 
but  as  yet  no  improvements  have  been  attempted,  and  it  remains  a  wild,  rambling- 
ground,  full  of  grand  possibilities  for  the  landscape  artist. 

Chevy  Chase  consists  of  a  group  of  handsome  country  villas,  among  which  an  old 
mansion  has  been  converted  into  a  “country  club,  ”  with  tennis  courts,  golf  links,  etc. , 
attached,  and  here  the  young  people  of  the  fashionable  set  meet  for  outdoor  amuse¬ 
ments,  in  which  fox-hunting  with  hounds,  after  the  British  fashion,  is  prominent.  A 
large  hotel  was  started  here,  but  the  building  is  now  occupied  as  a  school.  An  addi¬ 
tional  fare  is  charged  for  travel  beyond  the  circle  at  the  District  line,  and  there  is  little 
to  attract  the  traveler  farther  northward.  Instead  of  turning  back,  however,  it  is  a 
good  plan  to  walk  southwestward  eight  or  ten  minutes,  passing  old  Fort  Reno,  and 
striking  the  Tenallytown  electric  road,  where  he  can  return  direct  to  Georgetown. 

7.  Georgetown  and  Its  Vicinity. 

Georgetown,  now  West  Washington,  was  a  flourishing  village  and  seaport  (the 
river  channel  having  been  deeper  previous  to  the  construction  of  bridges)  before  there 
was  a  thought  of  placing  the  capital  here;  and  in  its  hospitable 
History.  houses  the  early  officials  found  pleasanter  homes  than  the  embryo 

Federal  city  then  afforded.  Its  narrow,  well-shaded,  hilly  streets 
are  yet  quaint  with  reminders  of  those  days,  and  it  has  residents  who  still  consider 
their  circle  of  families  the  only  persons  “true  blue.”  Georgetown  is  still  a  port  of 
entry,  but  its  business  does  little  more  than  pay  the  expenses  of  the  office. 

Before  the  era  of  railroads  Georgetown  had  distinct  importance,  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  tidewater  terminus  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal,  which  was 
finished  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  Great  Falls  in  1784,  and  in  1828  was  carried 
through  to  Cumberland,  Maryland,  at  a  cost  of  ^13,000,000.  It  never  realized  the 
vast  expectations  of  its  promoters,  but  was  of  great  service  to  Georgetown. 

The  residential  section  of  Georgetown  is  reached  by  way  of  P  Street  over  a 
steel  bridge  spanning  Rock  Creek  near  Twenty-second  Street,  over  which  run  the 
cars  of  the  Georgetown  line. 

Pennsylvania  Avenue  forms  the  highway  toward  Georgetown,  but  stops  at  Rock 
Creek.  The  cars  turn  off  to  K  Street,  cross  the  deep  ravine  over  a  bridge  borne  upon 
the  arched  water-mains,  and  then  run  east  to  the  end  of  the  street  at 
Union  the  Aqueduct  Bridge.  Here  a  three-story  union  railway  station  has 

Station.  been  built ;  into  its  lowest  level  come  the  cars  of  the  Pennsylvania 

Avenue  line.  At  the  roof  level  of  this  station  is  the  junction  of  the 
F  Street  line  and  Great  Falls  line,  running  to  Glen  Echo  and  Cabin  John  Bridge. 

The  cars  of  the  Great  Falls  &  Old  Dominion  Railroad,  operating  through 
Virginia  to  Great  Falls,  have  a  terminus  immediately  alongside  of  Union  Station. 

Georgetown  does  not  contain  much  to  attract  the  hasty  sight-seer,  though  much 
for  the  meditative  historian.  A  large  sign,  painted  upon  a  brick  house  near  the 
Aqueduct  Bridge,  informs  him  that  that  is  the  Key  Mansion — the 
Key  House.  home  for  several  years  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  the  author  of  “The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,”  who  resided  here  after  the  War  of  1812, 
became  district-attorney,  and  died  in  1843.  Similar  personal  memoranda  belong 
to  several  other  old  houses  here.  On  Analostan,  for  example — the  low,  forested 
island  below  the  farther  end  of  Ac^ueduct  Bridge — lived  the  aristocratic  Masons 
during  the  early  years  of  the  Republic,  cultivating  a  model  farm  and  enter- 


190 


PICTOKIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


GEORGETOWN  UNIVERSITY.  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


taining  royally.  One  of  the  latest  of  them  was  John  M.  Mason,  author  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  an  associate  of  Mr.  Slidell  in  the  Confederate  mission  to 
England,  which  was  interrupted  by  Wilkes  in  the  Trent  affair.  The  most  prominent 
institution  in  this  locality,  however,  is  Georgetown  College.  This  is 
the  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  Georgetown  University,  which  is  Georgetown 
under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  This  school.  College* 
consisting  of  three  departments  —  postgraduate,  collegiate,  and  prepara¬ 
tory —  is  the  oldest  Catholic  institution  of  higher  learning  in  the  United  States,  hav¬ 
ing  been  founded  in  1789.  The  college  was  chartered  as  a  university  by  act  of 
Congress  in  1815,  and  in  1833  was  empowered  by  the  Holy  See  to  grant  degrees  in 
philosophy  and  theology.  The  present  main  building,  begun  in  1878,  is  an  excellent 
specimen  of  Rhenish -Romanesque  architecture,  and  its  grounds  cover  seventy-eight 
acres,  including  the  beautiful  woodland  “  walks  ”  and  a  magnificent  campus.  The 
Riggs  Library,  of  over  70,000  volumes,  contains  rare  and  curious  works.  The  Cole¬ 
man  Museum  has  many  fine  exhibits,  among  them  interesting  Colonial  relics  and 
valuable  collections  of  coins  and  medals.  Not  far  from  the  college,  on  a  prominent 
hill,  is  the  Astronomical  Observatory,  where  many  original  investigations  are  made 
as  well  as  class  instruction  given.  Thirty-nine  members  of  the  faculty  and  300 
students  comprise  the  present  census  of  this  school. 

The  School  of  Law,  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  District  courts,  is  one  of  the  best 
in  America,  numbering  on  its  staff  several  leading  jurists ;  the  faculty  now  numbers 
fifteen,  the  students  over  300.  The  School  of  Medicine  is  fully  equipped  for  thorough 
medical  training  under  distinguished  specialists  ;  the  faculty  numbers  forty-nine,  the 
students,  125.  The  total  number  of  students  in  the  university  is  about  750. 

Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  on  the  southern  bink  of  Rock  Creek  near  P  Street,  is  a  beautiful 
burying  ground  rising  in  terraces  and  containing  the  graves  of  many  dis¬ 
tinguished  men  and  women.  It  is  reached  by  the  line  of  the  Metropolitan  Oak  Hill* 
street  cars,  more  commonly  called  the  F  Street  line  ;  leaving  the  cars 
at  Thirtieth  Street,  a  walk  of  two  squares  north  will  bring  the  visitor  to  the  entrance 
“Near  the  gateway  is  the  chapel  built  in  the  style  of  architecture  of  Henry  VIH 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


191 


This  is  matted  by  ivy  brought  from  ‘  Melrose  Abbey.’  In  front  of  the  chapel  is  the 
monument  of  John  Howard  Payne,  the  author  of  ‘  Home,  Sweet  Home,  ’  who  had 
been  buried  in  1852  in  the  cemetery  near  Tunis,  Africa,  and  there  remained  until,  at 
the  expense  of  Mr.  Corcoran,  his  bones  were  brought  to  this  spot,  and  in  ’83  were  re¬ 
interred  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  The  statue  of  William  Pinkney  is  near  here 
also  (he  was  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Maryland,  and  nephew  of  William 
Pinkney,  the  great  Maryland  lawyer).  It  represents  that  prelate  in  full  canonical 
robes,  and  was  dedicated  to  his  memory  by  Mr.  Corcoran,  who  was  the  friend  of  his 
youth,  the  comfort  of  his  declining  years.  The  mausoleum  of  Mr.  Corcoran  for  his 
family  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  mortuary  architecture ;  this  is  in  the  northwestern 
section  of  the  cemetery,  while  in  the  southeastern  is  the  mausoleum  of  the  Van  Ness 
family,  whose  leader  married  the  heiress,  Marcia,  daughter  of  David  Burns,  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  the  site  of  Washington  City.  This  tomb  is  a  model  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Vesta  at  Rome.  The  cemetery  comprises  twenty-five  acres,  incorpo¬ 
rated  in  1849,  one-half  of  which,  and  an  endowment  of  $90,000,  were  the  donation  of 
Mr.  William  W.  Corcoran.  Here  were  buried  Chief  Justice  Chase,  Secretary  of  War 
Stanton,  the  great  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  and  many  others  illustrious  in  American 
annals.”  Extremely  pleasant  rambles  may  be  taken  to  the  north  and  east  of  this  ceme¬ 
tery,  and  it  is  not  far  across  the  hills  to  the  Naval  Observatory.  This  is  the  astronom¬ 
ical  station  of  the  Government  under  control  of  the  navy  and  presided  over  by  an 
oflSicer  of  high  rank,  whose  first,  object  is  the  gathering  and  collection  of  information 
of  use  to  mariners,  such  as  precision  of  knowledge  of  latitude  and  longitude,  varia¬ 
tion  of  the  compass,  accuracy  of  chronometers  and  other  instruments 
U.  S.  used  in  the  navigation  of  ships  of  war,  and  similar  information  more 

Observatory,  or  less  allied  to  astronomy.  Purely  scientific  astronomical  work  is 
also"carried  on,  and  the  equipment  of  telescopes  and  other  instruments 
is  complete,  enabling  the  staff  of  learned  men  —  naval  and  civilian  —  attached  to  the 
institution  to  accomplish  notable  results  in  the  advancement  of  that  department  of 
knowledge.  This  is  also  the  station  of  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau.  The  special 
inquirer  will  be  welcomed  by  the  officers  at  all  suitable  hours,  and  on  Thursday  nights 
cards  of  invitation  admit  visitors,  generally  to  look  through  the  great  telescope. 

This  observatory  dates  from  1892,  when  it  was  moved  from  the  wooded  elevation, 
called  Braddock’s  Hill,  at  the  Potomac  end  of  New  York  Avenue,  which  it  had  occu¬ 
pied  for  nearly  a  century.  That  ground  was  a  reservation  originally  set  apart  at  the 
instance  of  Washington,  who  wished  to  see  planted  there  the  foundations  of  the 
National  University  —  the  dream  of  his  last  years.  It  is  called  University  Square  to 
this  day, 

8.  Georgetown  to  Tennallytown  and  Glen  Echo. 

From  Georgetown  an  electric  road  runs  north  out  High  Street  and  the  Tennallytown 
Road  to  the  District  line,  where  it  branches  into  two  lines.  Leaving  the  city  quickly 
it  makes  its  way  through  a  pretty  suburban  district,  out  into  a  region  of  irregular 
hills  and  dales,  where,  about  one  mile  from  the  starting  point,  the  new  United  States 
Naval  Observatory  is  seen  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  right.  Just  beyond  its 
entrance  is  an  industrial  school.  The  general  district  at  the  left  is  Wesley  Heights, 
ninety  acres  of  which,  and  the  name,  are  the  property  of  a  Methodist  association, 
which  proposes  to  establish  there  a  highly  equipped  university,  to  be  called  the 
American,  modeled  upon  the  plan  of  German  universities,  and  open 
Woodley  to  both  sexes.  The  site  of  the  buildings  will  be  west  of  Massachusetts 
Heights.  Avenue,  where  it  intersects  Forty -fourth  Street,  forming  University 
Circle.  Work  is  beginning  on  the  buildings,  and  the  endowment  is 
growing.  The  district  west  of  the  road  is  Woodley  Heights,  Woodley  adjoining  it 


192 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


further  east  along  the  valley  of  Rock  Creek.  Tunlaw  Heights  is  another  local 
“subdivision”  here;  and  somewhat  farther  on  is  Oak  View,  where  there  is  a  lofty 
observatory,  open  to  anyone  who  cares  to  climb  it  and  obtain  the  w  ider  outh  ok, 
embracing  a  large  part  of  the  city.  A  few  years  ago  there  w'as  a  great  “boom”  in 
suburban  villa  sites  near  here,  and  many  noted  persons  built  the  fine  houses  which 
are  scattered  over  the  ridges  in  all  directions.  Among  them  was  Presi¬ 
dent  Cleveland,  whose  house,  “  Red  Top  ”  (from  the  color  of  the  roof),  “  I^ed  Top.” 
is  passed  by  the  cars  just  beyond  Oak  View.  It  was  afterward  sold  by 
the  President  to  great  advantage,  and  during  his  second  term  he  occupied  another 
summer  home  not  far  to  the  eastward  of  this  site.  The  cross-road  here  runs  straight 
to  the  Zodlogical  Park,  a  trifle  over  a  mile  eastward.  Woodley  Inn  is  a  summer  hotel 
on  the  left  of  the  road,  which  keeps  northward  along  a  ridge  wdth  wide 
views,  fora  mile  and  a  quarter  farther  to  Tennallytown,  lately  become  a 
suburb  of  considerable  population,  largely  increased  by  families  from 
the  city  in  summer.  A  road  to  the  left  (west)  from  here  gives  a  very  picturesque  walk 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  over  to  the  Receiving  Reservoir,  and  a  mile  farther  will  take  you 
to  Little  Falls,  or  the  Chain  Bridge.  Up  at  the  right,  at  the  highest  point  of  land  in 
the  district  (400  feet),  the  new  reservoir  is  seen,  occupying  the  site  of  Fort  Reno, 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  circle  of  forts  about  the  capital  during  the  Civil  War. 
A  wooded  knoll,  some  distance  to  the  left,  shows  the  crumbling  earthworks  of  a  lesser 
redoubt  near  the  river  road,  which  branches  off  northwest  from  the  village.  Three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  beyond  Tenallytown  the  limit  of  the  district  of  Columbia  is 
reached.  Then  line  continues  north  to  Rockville,  Maryland.  • 


Tennally¬ 

town. 


9.  Georgetown  to  Glen  Echo  and  Cabin  John. 


The  Washington  Railway  &  Electric  Company  operates  an  Electric  Line  to 
Glen  Echo  and  Cabin  John  Bridge  and  affords  one  of  the  most  delightful  excur¬ 
sions  out  of  Washington.  Its  large  cars  leave  the  terminus  at  Thirty-Sixth  and 
Prospect  Streets  in  Georgetown,  the  westerly  end  of  the  F  Street  line,  and  taking 
a  high  course  overlooking  the  river  valley,  which  becomes  much  narrow^er  and 
more  gorge-like  above  the  city,  with  the  Virginia  banks  very  steep,  rocky,  and  broken 
by  quarries.  The  rails  are  laid  through  the  w^oods,  and  gradually  descend  to  the 
bank  of  the  canal  which  skirts  the  foot  of  the  bluff.  About  three 
miles  above  Georgetown  is  the  Chain  Bridge,  so  called  because  the  Chain 

earliest  bridge  here,  where  the  river  for  some  two  miles  is  confined  Bridge, 

within  a  narrow,  swift,  and  deep  channel  on  the  Virginia  side,  was 
made  of  suspended  chains.  The  lofty  bank  is  broken  here  by  the  ravine  of  Pimmit 
Run,  making  a  convenient  place  for  several  roads  to  meet  and  cross  the  river.  The 
bluffs  above  it  were  crowned  with  strong  forts,  for  this  was  one  of  the  principal 
approaches  to  Washington.  A  mile  and  a  half  above  the  Chain  Bridge,  having  run 
through  the  picturesque  woods  behind  High,  or  Sycamore,  Island,  owned  by  a 
sportsmen’s  club,  you  emerge  to  find  the  river  a  third  of  a  mile  wide  again,  and 
dashing  over  black  rocks  and  ledges  in  the  series  of  rapids  called  the 
Little  Falls  of  the  Potomac.  The  wild  beauty  of  the  locality  makes  it  Little  Falls, 
a  favorite  one  for  picnicking  parties,  and  bass  fishing  is  always  excel¬ 
lent.  The  Maryland  bank  becomes  higher  and  more  rugged  above  Little  Falls,  and 
takes  the  name  of  Glen  Echo  Heights. 


EXCURSIONS  ABOUT  WASHINGTON. 


198 


THE  CABIN  JOHN  BRIDGE.  —  Length  of  Span,  220  Feet;  Height,  57  Feet. 


Glen  Echo  is  a  place  where  it  was  proposed  to  combine  educational  privileges 
with  recreation,  and  form  a  suburban  residence  colony  and  day  resort  of  high 
character.  Extensive  buildings  of  stone  and  wood,  including  a  very 
Glen  Echo.  spacious  amphitheater,  were  erected  in  the  grove  upon  the  steep  bank 
and  commanded  a  most  attractive  river  view  ;  in  them  courses  of  valu¬ 
able  lectures,  Sunday  services,  and  concerts  of  a  high  order  were  given,  and  many 
means  of  rational  enj'oyment  were  provided,  but  the  proj'ect  failed. 

The  river  has  pretty  banks  to  Cabin  John  Run,  where  the  fine  arch  of  the  cele¬ 
brated  bridge  gleams  through  the  trees.  The  remainder  of  the  ruu 
Cabin  John  (five  miles)  is  through  a  wild,  wooded  region  at  the  edge  of  the  canal 
Bridg^C.  and  river,  which  is  again  narrow,  deep,  and  broken  by  islands  flooded 
at  high  water,  with  high,  ravine-cut  banks.  This  is  a  favorite  place 
with  Washingtonians  for  fishing  with  rod  and  fly,  from  the  banks ;  Daniel  Webster 
often  came  here  for  this  purpose. 

The  Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac  are  a  series  of  bold  cascades  forming  a  drop  of 
eighty  feet  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  distance,  very  pretty  but  hardly  deserving 
the  panegyrics  bestowed  by  some  early  writers.  The  place  will  always 
Great  Falls,  be  exceedingly  attractive,  however,  especially  to  artists  and  anglers.  The 
appearance  of  the  falls  has  been  considerably  modified,  and  probably 
enhanced,  by  the  structures  of  the  City  Water-works,  for  this  is  the  source  of  Wash¬ 
ington’s  public  water  supply.  The  water  is  conveyed  to  the  city  through  a  brick  con¬ 
duit,  which  runs  along  the  top  of  the  Maryland  bank,  and  is  overlaid  by  the  macadam¬ 
ized  driveway  called  the  Conduit  Road.  This  work  of  engineering  meets  its  first 
serious  difficulty  at  Cabin  John  Run,  where  a  stone  arch  leaps  across  the  ravine  in  a 
single  span  —  unequaled  elsewhere  —  of  220  feet. 


194 


PICTORIAL  GUIDE  TO  WASHINGTON. 


10.  To  Bladensburg  and  Kendall  Green. 

Bladensburg  is  a  quiet  Maryland  village,  some  seven  miles  northeast,  on  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio  Railroad.  It  is  a  port  on  the  Anacostia,  to  which  large  boats  formerly 
ascended  with  goods  and  went  back  laden  with  farm  produce.  Through 
it  ran  the  stage  road  from  the  north  ;  and  here,  August  24,  1814,  the  Bladcns- 

feeble  American  army  met  the  British,  under  Ross  and  Cockburn,  who  burg, 

had  marched  over  from  their  landing-place  on  the  Patuxent  River, 
intent  upon  the  capture  of  the  Yankee  capital.  The  Americans,  partly  by  blundering 
and  partly  by  panic  (excei^t  some  sailors  under  Commodore  Barney),  ran  away  after 
the  first  attack,  and  left  the  way  open  for  the  redcoats  to  take  and  burn  the  town  as 
they  pleased;  but  they  inflicted  a  remarkably  heavy  loss  upon  the  invaders. 

“It  is  a  favorite  drive  with  Washingtonians  to-day,”  remarks  Mr.  Todd,  in  his 
Story  of  Washington,  “  over  the  smooth  Bladensburg  pike  to  the  quaint  old  village. 
Dipping  into  the  ravine  where  Barney  made  his  stand,  you  have  on  the 
right  the  famous  dueling  ground,  enriched  with  some  of  the  noblest  Battle  Field, 
blood  of  the  Union.  A  mile  farther  on,  you  come  out  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Eastern  Branch,  here  an  inconsiderable  mill  stream,  easily  forded,  though 

spanned  by  a  bridge  some  thirty  yards  in  length.  On  the  opposite  shore  gleam 
through  the  trees  the  houses  of  Bladensburg,  very  little  changed  since  the  battle-day. 
Some  seventy  yards  before  reaching  the  bridge,  the  Washington  pike  is  joined  by  the 
old  Georgetown  post-road,  which  comes  down  Ifom  the  north  to  meet  it  at  an  angle 
of  forty-five  degrees.  The  gradually  rising  triangular  field  between  these  two  roads, 
its  heights  now  crowned  by  a  clubhouse  of  modern  design,  was  the  battle  giound.” 

A  string  of  pleasant  suburban  villages  nearly  join  one  another  along  the  railway 
and  turnpike  —  Highland,  Wiley  Heights,  Rives,  Woodbridge,  Langdon,  Avalon 
Heights,  and  Winthrop  Heights  or  Montello.  The  last  is  well  inside 
the  district  and  brings  us  back  to  Mount  Olivet  Cemetery  burial  ground,  IMount 

lying  between  the  turnpike  and  the  railway  near  the  city  boundary.  Olivet, 

which  has  the  sad  distinction  of  containing  the  bodies  of  Mrs.  Surratt, 
one  of  the  conspirators  in  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  and  of  Wirz,  the  cruel  keeper 
of  Andersonville  prison.  Electric  roads  now  reach  all  these  suburbs. 

The  National  Fair  Grounds,  oppositi  Mount  Olivet  and  west  of  the  railroad,  con¬ 
tain  the  Ivy  City  race  track.  The  suburban  “  addition,”  Montello,  is  north  of  the  fair¬ 
grounds,  and  south  of  them  is  Ivy  City,  with  Trinidad  east  of  the  railroad.  The 
southern  part  of  Ivy  City  is  occupied  by  the  extensive  grounds  of  the  Columbia 
Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  popularly  known  as  Kendall  Green. 

11.  To  Annapolis  and  Baltimore. 

In  April,  1908,  the  Washington,  Baltimore  &  Annapolis  Electric  Raihvay  Company 
commenced  operation  on  its  high  speed  electric  road  between  W ashington,  Annapolis 
and  Baltimore.  A  half  hourly  service  now  makes  both  cities  and  their 
many  attractions  of  a  historic  nature  easily  accessible  to  tourists  from  Annapolis  and 
Washington.  At  Annapolis  the  United  Staces  has  almost  entirely  re-  Baltimore 
built  the  old  Naval  Academy,  replacing  the  old  structures  with  mag¬ 
nificent  pieces  of  modern  architecture.  The  life  of  the  midshipman  together  with  the 
quaint  historic  features  of  this  old  town  named  in  honor  of  Queen  Anne,  never  fails 
to  enlist  much  interest  on  the  part  of  tourists.  The  Electric  Line  is  of  the  most  mod¬ 
ern  type  and  its  Terminal  Station  is  at  15th  and  H  Streets  N.  E.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

12.  To  Benning  and  Chesapeake  Beach. 

Benning  and  Deanewood  are  suburban  villages  east  of  Anacostia  River,  and 
reached  by  the  Columbia  line  of  electric  cars,  out  G  Street  and  Benning  Road, 
N.  E.  Benning  is  a  connecting  point  of  the  Chesapeake  Beach  Raihvay,  a  line  of 
steam  railroad  some  thirty  miles  in  length,  which  connects  the  capital 
with  a  shore  resort  upon  Chesapeake  Bay  called  Chesapeake  Beach.  Chesapeake 

These  trains  run  into  the  Union  Railway  Station  by  way  of  Hyatts-  Beach 

ville.  At  the  beach  are  hotels,  amusement  places,  bathing  facilities, 
and  much  that  is  naturally  as  well  as  artificially  attractive. 


LIST  OF  PRINCIPAL  HOTELS 


Arlington — Lafayette  Square — Vermont  Avenue,  Corner  H  Street — American 

plan . $2.50 

Buckingham— 918  Fifteenth  Street,  N.  W.,  West  Side  McPherson  Street— 

American  plan . 2.50 

Cairo — Q  Street,  between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Streets — American  plan  3.50 
Cochran — Fourteenth  and  K  Streets — American  plan  .  .  .  .  3.00 

Congress  Hall — New  Jersey  Avenue  near  C  Street,  S.  E.  -  -  -  3.00 

Continental — Opposite  Union  Station  Plaza . 1.50  up 

Crafton — Connecticut  Avenue  and  De  Sales  Street— American  plan  -  3.00 

Driscoll — Cor.  B  and  First  Streets,  N.  W. — American  plan  -  -  -  2.50 

Dewey — L  Street,  between  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Streets — American  plan  3.50 
Ebbitt — F  and  Fourteenth  Streets — American  plan  ....  3  50 

Engel — New  Jersey  Avenue  and  C.  Street  -----  $1.00  to  3.00 

Everett — H  and  Eighteenth  Streets,  N.  W. — American  plan  -  -  -  2.00 

Fredonia — H  and  Twelfth  Streets— American  plan.  See  ad.  -  -  -  2  00 

Gordon — Sixteenth  and  I  Streets — American  plan,  $3.00  per  day  up; 
European  plan,  $1.50  per  day  up.  See  ad.  Special. 

Hamilton — Fourteenth  and  K  Streets — American  plan  -  -  -  -  2.50 

Johnson — Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Thirteenth  Street — European  plan  -  1.00 

Lincoln — Tenth  and  H  Streets,  N.  W. — American  plan,  $2.00  per  day;  Euro¬ 
pean  plan.  See  ad. . $1.00  per  day 

Metropolitan — Pennsylvania  Avenue,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh  Streets — 

American  plan . 2.50 

Montrose — Corner  of  Fourteenth  and  H  Streets,  N.  W. — European  plan 

$1.00  to  3.00 

National — Pennsylvania  Avenue,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets — Ameri¬ 
can  plan,  $2.50  and  up;  European  plan  -  -  -  $1.00  per  day  and  up 

New  Bancroft — Eighteenth  and  H  Streets — American  plan  -  -  -  2.50 

New  Willard — Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Fourteenth  Street — American 

plan  -  -  .  -  . . 3  00 

New  Winston — First  Street,  N.  W. — European  plan,  $1.00  up;  American 
plan,  $3.00  up. 

Normandie — McPherson  Square — American  plan,  $3.50;  European  plan,  $1.50 
and  up.  See  ad. 


Powhatan — Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Eighteenth  and  H  Streets  -  -  $1.50  up 

Raleigh — Pennsylania  Avenue  and  Twelfth  Street — European  plan  $2.50  and  up. 
Richmond — Seventeenth  and  H  Streets— American  plan,  $3.00;  European 

plan . $1.50  and  up 

St.  James — Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Sixth  Street — European  plan,  $1.50  and  up 
Shoreh AM— Fifteenth  and  I  Streets — American  and  European  plan  -  5.00 

Vendome — Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Third  Street — American  plan  -  2.50 


For  printed  matter  on  Washin|{ton  Hotels  call  at  J.  F.  JarVis,  1015  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Or  write  Rand  McNally  &  Company,  40*42  E.  226  St.,  New  York. 


195 


THE  JEFFERSON 


RICHMOND,  VA. 

The  most  magnificent  hotel  in  the  South 


European  Plan 

400  ROOMS  300  BATHS 

Rooms  single  and  en  suite,  with  and  without  private  Bath 

Turkish  and  Roman  Baths  Spacious  Sample  Rooms 

Large  Convention  Hall  Rates  $1.50  and  upwards 

Near  by  the  New  18  Hole  Golf  Course 
of  the  Country  Club  of  Va. 

Every  Convenience  for  the  Traveling  Man,  Every  Comfort 

for  the  Tourist 


DIEECTORY 


FOB 

VISITORS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL. 


NAME  LOCATION  HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 

A-griculture—  Mall,  bet.  12th  &  14th  9  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  Musenin;  palm  house;  experi- 
Department  of  streets.  mental  greenhouses  and  orna¬ 

mental  gardens. 

Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars;  or  by  walking  from  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  13th  Street. 

Marshall  House;  Christ  Church; 

Alexandria  Six  miles  south  of  Alexandria  Lodge  Room;  Brad- 

the  Treasury.  dock  Headquarters  and  Camp¬ 

ing  Grounds,  and  other  historic 
scenes  and  monuments. 

Reached  by  hourly  trains  on  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mt.  Vernon  (Electric) 

Railway;  by  the  steamer  "  Charles  Macalester,”  or  a  ferry-boat,  from  the  Seventh  street 
wharf;  or  by  steam  trains  of  the  Southern  Railway. 


American  Re¬ 
publics —  2  Jackson  place.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices, 

Bureau  of 

Aqued  uct  Crosses  the  Potomac 
Bridge  at  Georgetown. 

Sunrise  to  sunset,  Lee  Mansion ;  graves  of  over 
Arlington—  Heights,  west  of  including  Sun-  16,000  soldiers  and  sailors ;  elab- 

National  Cem-  Potomac.  days  and  holi-  orate  monuments ;  trophies  of 

etery  days.  Cuban  war. 

Reached  by  way  of  Georgetown,  Aqueduct  Bridge  and  electric  cars  to  Fort  Meyer  and 
the  Northern  Gate  ;  or  by  electric  cars  from  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  13^  street,  via 
Long  Bridge.  Public  carriages  make  frequent  trips  through  the  cemetery,  fare  25  cents. 


Army  Medical 
Museum 


S.  E.  corner  Smith-  Pathological  and  surgical  mu* 

sonian  Grounds,7th  9  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  seum  and  library, 
and  B  streets,  S.W. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  cars. 


Arsenal—  Foot  of  street, 

Washing  ton  S.  W.  All  day.  Artillery  drills ;  river  view. 

Barracks 


Botanical 

den 


Gar-  Pennsylvania  ave.,  8  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  Greenhouses;  Bartholdi  fountain. 

1st  to  3d  streets. 

Reached  by  all  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars. 


Cabin  John 
Bridge 


534  miles  up  the 
Potomac, 


Picturesque  out-door  resort. 


Reached  by  Metropolitan  electric  cars  from  Prospect  avenue  and  36th  street,  Georgetown. 


9  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.  Rotunda ;  Senate;  House  of  Rep- 
Capitol  Capitol  Hill.  or  until  Con-  resentatives ;  Supreme  Court ; 

gress  adjourns.  paintings,  statuary  and  bronzes. 
Reached  on  the  south  and  west  sides  by  the  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars,  and  on  the  north 
and  east  sides  by  the  Metropolitan  F  street  lines.  A  flag  flies  over  each  house  while  it  is 
in  session,  and  sessions  at  night  are  indicated  by  lights  upon  the  dome. 

Catholic  Univer-  Eckington  All  day.  Buildings  and  library. 

•ity 

Reached  by  Eckington  line  of  electric  cars. 


DIRECTORY  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE  NATION^AL  CAPITOL. 


NAME  LOCATION 

Census  Building  B  street,  1st  to  2d. 


Centre  Market 
Christ  Church 


Pennsylvania  avenue 
and  7th  street 


HOURS 
No  admission. 

All  day. 
Sundays. 


INTERESTING  FEATURES 
Offices. 


Flower  stalls;  country  wagons, 
etc. 


G  street,  between  6th  Sundays.  Oldest  church  in  the  cHy;  Con- 
and  7th,  S.  E.  gressional  cemetery. 

Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars  to  Navy  Yard. 


City  Hall 


Judiciary  square. 


0  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  District  offices. 


Civil  Service  Eighth  and  E  streets. 
Commission 


9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices 


Coast  and  Geo>  New  Jersey  avenue 
detlc  Survey  and  B  street,  S.  W.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices. 

Geo.  Washington  H  and  15  streets. 

University 

C  o  n  g  r  e  s  sional  G  street  between  6th  All  day.  Monuments  and  cenotaphs. 

Burying  Ground  and  7th,  S.  E. 

Adjacent  to  Christ  Church  ;  reached  by  Navy  Yard  cars. 


Congressional  Library  {See  lAbrary  of  Con{/res8.) 


Corcoran  Gal-  New  York  avenue  See  below.  Painting ;  statuary ;  bronzes  and 
lery  of  Art  and  17th  street.  a  great  variety  of  objects  of  art. 

The  Gallery  is  open  every  day  (the  Fourth  of  July  and  Christmas  day  excepted)  from 
9.30  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  from  October  ist  to  May  1st  and  from  9  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  May  ist  to 
October  ist.  On  other  public  holidays  from  10  a.m.  to  2  p.m.,  and  on  Sundays  except  in 
midsummer,  from  1.30  to  5  p.m.,  when  the  admission  is  free.  Mondays  (open  12  to  4  p.m.), 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  admittance  25  cents;  other  days  free.  Catalogues  for  sale. 

Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  cars  to  17th  street. 

Court  of  Claims  Pennsylvania  a  v  e-  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices. 

nue  and  17th  street. 

Dead  Letter  Second  Floor,  Gen-  Museum  of  postal  curiosities  and 

Office  eral  Post  Office.  philately. 


Bducation  —  8th  and  G.  streets.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Pedagogical  library. 

Commissioner 


Engraving  and  Mall,  14th  and  B  9  to  11.46  a.m.  and  Machinery  and  processes  used  in 
Printing—  streets,  S.  W.  12.80  to  2.30  p.m.  printing  banknotes,  bonds  and 

Bureau  of  postage  stamps. 

Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars.  Visitors  allowed  only  in  parties  conducted  by  an  attendant. 

Ethnology—  1333  F  street.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices  and  library. 

Bureau  of 


Executive  Mansion  (See  White  Hoiise) 


Fish  Commis-  Armory  Building,  6th 
Sion  and  B  streets,  S.  W. 


9  a.m.  to  6  p.m.  Aquaria  and  fish-cultural  appa¬ 
ratus. 


Ford’s  Theatre  10th  street  between 

E  and  F. 


Not  open. 


Building  in  which  Lincoln  was 
assassinated. 


Fort  Meyer  Arlington  hills,  west  All  day.  Cavalry  drills. 

of  the  Potomac. 

Reached  by  electric  cars  and  stages  from  west  end  of  Aqueduct  bridge. 


Geological  Sur-  1330  F.  street,  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices  and  library, 

▼ey 


Georgetown  Col¬ 
lege 


Georgetown. 


All  .day. 


Library  and  laboratories. 


DIRECTORY  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL. 


NAME 

LOCATION 

HOURS 

INTERESTING  FEATURES 

Howard  Univer¬ 

University  hill  be¬ 

All  day. 

sity 

tween  4J4  a-iid  6th 
streets. 

Educational  methods. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street 

cars  transferring  to  Brightwood  line. 

Indian  Affairs — 

7th,  E  and  F  street. 

9  a.m.  to  2  p.m. 

Offices. 

Bureau  of 

Interior — 

“Patent  Office,’*  7th 

9  a.m.  to  3  p.m. 

Patent  office,  museum  and  lib¬ 

Department  of 

and  F  street. 

rary. 

Justice — 

K  street,  opposite 

9  a.m.  to  2  p.m. 

Offices. 

Department  of 

McPherson  square. 

Labor — 

New  York  avenue 

9  a.m.  to  2  p.m. 

Offices. 

Department  of 

and  15th  street. 

Architecture  and  ornamentation; 

Library  of  Con¬ 
gress 

East  of  the  Capitol. 

9  a.m.  to  10  p.m. 

mural  paintings ;  sculptures ; 
mosaics ;  curiosities  of  early 
printing  and  illustration ;  read¬ 

ing-rooms. 

Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  F  street  lines  of  cars.  The  building  is  brilliantly  illu¬ 
minated  in  the  evening,  which  is  a  favorable  time  in  which  to  see  the  interior  decorations. 


Ijibrary,  Free  Mt.  Vernon  Place,  8th 
Public  and  K  streets. 


liincoln  Museum 


516 10th  street. 


Marine  Bar-  8th  street,  between  G 
racks  and  I,  S.  E. 


Mount  Vernon 


Sixteen  miles  down 
the  Potomac. 


9  a.m.  to  9  p.m.  Books  for  general  circulation. 

All  day.  Relics  related  to  Lincoln. 

All  day.  Drilling  of  Marine  Corps. 

11  a.m.  to  4  p.m.  Home  and  tomb  of  Washington. 


National  Mu¬ 
seum 


Reached  by  hourly  trains  of  the  Washington,  Alexandria  and  Mt.  Vernon  Electric  Rail¬ 
way  from  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  12th  St.  N.  W.,  and  morning  and  afternoon  by 
steamer  “Charles  Macalester’’  from  Seventh  street  wharf;  by  electric  railway,  75 
cents  round  trip;  by  steamer,  round  trip,  50  cents;  admission  to  grounds,  25  cents  extra 
in  both  cases. 

Mall,  opposite  10th 
street. 


Navy — 

Department  of 
Navy  Yard 


9  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m. 

State,  War  and  Navy  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m. 
Building. 

Foot  of  8th  street, 

S.  E. 


Zoological,  ethnological  and  in¬ 
dustrial  collections. 


Models  of  war  ships ;  trophies. 


All  day.  Manufacture  of  naval  cannon . 

trophies;  museum  of  relics. 

All  day.  Monuments  of  notable  men. 


Oak  Hill  Ceme-  Rock  Creek,  near  P. 
tery  street 

Reached  by  Metropolitan  (F  street)  cars  to  Georgetown. 

7  to  9  Thursday  Astronomical  apparatus  and  ob 
Observatory,  North  of  Georgetown  evenings  only.  servations  through  the  tele 
Naval  ‘  Cards  of  admis-  scope. 

sion  required. 

Reached  by  F  street  and  Rockville  electric  lines  from  Georgetown. 


Patent  OfB.ce 
Pension  OfBce 


7th  and  F  streets,  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Museum  of  models. 

Judiciary  square.  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Central  hall  and  columns. 

Reached  by  F  street  and  G  street  lines  of  cars. 


Post  OfBce,  Gen-  Pennsylvania  a  v  e  -  Offices  ojien  9  a.m. 
eral  and  City  nue,  11th  and  12th  to  2 p.m.  See  “Dead  Letter  Office.** 

streets. 

Money-order  division  open  from  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  Registry  division  open  from  8.30  a.m. 
to  6  p.m.  for  delivery  of  registered  matter.  For  the  receipt  of  matter  for  registration  the 
division  is  always  open.  General-delivery  window  never  closed.  Stamps  can  be  pur¬ 
chased  at  any  time  day  or  night.  Money-order  and  registered-letter  business  transacted 
at  all  of  the  branch  post-offices  in  the  city.  Reached  by  Pennsylvania  avenue.  Ninth 
street  and  Eleventh  street  lines  of  cars. 


DIRECTORY  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITOL 


NAME  LOCATION  HOURS  INTERESTING  FEATURES 


Printing  Office, 
Government 


North  Capitol  and  H  Visitors  in  partiesconducted  Machinery  and  meth- 
streets.  through  the  building  at  ods  of  printing  and 

IG  a.m.  and  2  p.m.  book  maKing. 

by  H  street  cars  from  Fifteenth  and  G  street. 


Rock  Creek 
Church 


Rock  Creek  Road, 

northeast  of  Sol-  All  day.  Fine  monuments  in  cemetery, 

dier’s  Home. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  and  Brightwood  lines  of  cars. 


Smithsonian  In¬ 
stitution 


Mall,  opposite  10th  9  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.  Museum  of  birds,  marine  anl- 
street.  mals,  and  American  archselogy. 

Reached  by  Seventh  street  line  of  cars. 


St.  John’s  Epis-  H  and  16th  street.  Sundays, 

copal  Church 

Soldier’s  Home  Near  7th  street  ex-  All  day  including  Fine  grounds,  with  wide  view; 

tended.  holidays.  monuments  and  relics. 

Reached  by  Se;enth  street  and  Brightwood  cars. 


State—  State,  War  and  Navy  9  a  m.  to  2  p.m.  Library  and  historical  relics. 

Department  of  Building. 

Treasury,  The  Pennsylvania  ave-  9a.m.  to  2p.m.  Making, distribution, and  care  of 

U.  S,  nue  and  15th  street.  government  treasure. 

Visitors  are  shown  through  the  building  from  lo  to  12  a.m.,  in  parties  of  twelve  by  attend¬ 
ants  who  explain  everything  shown  ;  all  visitors  assemble  at  the  door  of  the  Treasurer’s 
office,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  main  floor  and  register  their  names. 


War—  State,  War  and  Navy  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Captured  cannon  and  other 

Department  of  Building.  trophies. 

Washington  Mall,  west  of  l^th  9.30  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.  View  from  summit. 

Monument  street. 

Reached  by  Belt  Line  cars  from  the  Capitol,  or  by  transfer  {2  cents  extra),  from  Penn¬ 
sylvania  avenue  cars.  The  elevator  runs  (free)  to  the  top  of  the  monument  every  half 
hour  from  9.30  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.;  but  no  one  will  be  taken  up  in  the  last  trip  (4.30),  if  30 
persons  (the  capacity  of  the  elevator),  are  already  there. 

WeatherBureau  24th  and  M  streets,  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.  Offices. 

East  Room  open 

White  House  Executive  Grounds.  daily,  10  a.m.  to  Home  of  the  Presidents, 

2  p.m. 

No  general  public  receptions  are  held  by  the  President,  except  on  New  Year’s  day,  but 
visitors  having  business  with  the  President  will  be  admitted  from  12  to  i  o’clock  daily, 
excepting  on  Cabinet  days,  so  far  as  public  business  will  permit. 


Young  Men’s 
Christian  As-  1732  G  street, 
sociation 


Zoological  Park,  Adam’s  Mill  Road,  All  day.  Living  animals. 

National  N.  W. 

Reached  by  Seventh  or  Fourteenth  street  cars  and  transfer  to  U  street  line,  thence  to 
Chevy  Chase  cars,  or  by  Chevy  Chase  cars  direct  from  the  Treasury. 


HOTEL  MARTHA  WASHINGTON 

29th  to  30th  Streets,  Near  Fifth  Avenue,  NEW  YORK 

EXCLUSIVELY  FOR  WOMEN 

450  Rooms  en  suite  and  single.  $1.50  per  day  and  up,  European  plan. 
Telephone  in  every  room.  Numerous  baths  on  each  floor  free  to  guests. 
Caters  to  women  especially  traveling  or  visiting  New  York  alone.  Conven¬ 
ient  to  Surface  and  Subway  transportation.  Cuisine  exceptionally  good. 

—  —  - ABSOLUTELY  FIREPROOF  = 

RESTAURANT  FOR  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN 


HOTEL  RAYMOND  ^NEW^YORK*'^*** 


2  blocks  from  Broadway.  28th  Street 
Subway  Station  at  the  door.  3  blocks 
from  Hudson  Tubes  at  6th  Avenue  and 
28th  Street. 

Five  minutes  from  Grand  Central  Station 
at  42nd  Street,  or  Penna.  R.  R.  Station 
at  7th  Avenue. 

CONVENIENT  TO  THEATRES  AND  SHOPS 

EUROPEAN  PLAN 

Single  Rooms  $1.50  Per 
Day — with  Bath  $2.00 

Apartments  accommodating  3 
or  more  persons,  from  $4.00 
to  $3.00  per  day. 

AMERICAN  PLAN 

Single  Rooms  $2.50  Per 
Day — with  Bath  $3.00 


Special  rates  by  the  week  or  month.  A  quiet  family  hotel.  Write 
for  booklet.  MARK  A.  CAD  WELL. 


Hotel  Van  Cortlandt 

142  to  146  West  Forty-ninth  Street,  New  York 

Just  East  of  Broadway  Tel.  Bryant  3147 


EXCELLENT 

RESTAURANT 


100  Rooms  with  use  of  bath  -  $1.50 

100  Rooms  with  private  bath  $2.00  to  $2.50 
Parlor,  Bedroom  and  bath  -  $3.00  to  $5.00 


SELECTED  WINES, 
LIQUORS,  ETC. 


A  high-class  fireproof  hotel  in  the  center  of  the  city, 
and  in  the  heart  of  the  theatrical  and  shopping  dis¬ 
trict — one  block  from  50th  Street  Subway  and 
Elevated  Stations.  All  rooms  large,  airy  2uid  hand¬ 
somely  furnished. 


Hotel  Van  Cortlandt  Map  of  New  York  mailed  on  request. 


$5 

VA$V2$yi$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$V$ 

$ 

TIIF 

$ 

$ 

NAVARRE  HOTEL 

y 

$ 

Nearest  Hotel  to  Penn.  R.  R.  Station 

$ 

Seventh  Avenue  at  38th  Street 

$ 

Short  Block  from  Broadway 

$ 

NEW  YORK 

$  • 

Centre  of  Everything 

$ 

350  Rooms  200  Baths 

$ 

A  Room  with  a  Bath  for  a  Dollar  and  a  Half 

$ 

iZ 

A  Room  with  a  Bath  for  a  Dollar  and  a  Half 

$ 

Other  Rooms  with  Bath . $2.00  and  $2.50 

$ 

/2 

$ 

% 

Rooms  for  two  persons . $2.50  and  $3.00  . 

DUTCH  GRILL— MUSIC 

$ 

Finest  in  town  (a  la  carte) 

Send  for  Colored  Map  of  New  York 

$ 

y 

$ 

Vi 

PLAZA  HOTEL  Chicago,  under  the  same  management 

Edgar  T.  Smith 

$ 

y 

% 

'A:l 

Managing  Director 

$ 

fv$v$v$v$yi$yi$v$v$v$v$v$v$v$v$v$v 

Park  Avenue  Hotel 

Park  (4th)  Ave.,  32nd  Si  33rd  Sts.,  New  York 

EUROPEAN  PLAN 


$1.50  to  $5.00 

per  day 
and  upward 

Accessible  to  all  railroads, 
ferries,  theaters,  and  depart* 
meat  stores. 

Two  minutes  from  Grand 
Central  Terminal,  and  five 
minutes’  walk  from  New  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Station,  32nd  St.  and 
7th  Ave.  Thirty-third  Street 
and  Fourth  Avenue  Subway 
Terminal  directly  in  front  of 
the  door. 


Famous  for  its  Dining  Verandas  and  Sunken  Palm  Garden 
The  only  place  of  its  kind  in  the  City  of  New  York 


FRED  A.  REED,  Proprietor 


INDEX 


Heavy  figures  indicate  illustrations. 


PAGE 

A  dams,  Dea'h  of .  26 

Agriculture,  Department  of . 120 

Agricultural  Museum .  121 

Alexandria  . 159 

American  Republics,  Bureau  of.. .  112 

Anacostia . . . - .  83 

River . . 162 

Suburbs .  83 

Arlington .  172 

Arlington. 

Arlington  House .  173 

Beauty  of  the  Estate . . 172 

Bivouac  of  the  Dead . 173 

Custis  Family .  174 

Graves  of  Officers . . .  174 

Lees,  The . . . 178 

Mansion,  The .  174 

Public  Carriages .  173 

Routes .  173 

Sheridan  Gate,  The .  178 

Sheridan,  Tomb  of  Gen.  Philip  H.  ..  174  177 

Site  and  View . 174 

Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  Cuban 

War . 174 

Soldiers’ Graves . 173 

Temple  of  Fame .  174  176 

Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Dead . 174  177 

Army  and  Navy  Club .  137 

Medical  Museum . 125 

Statues . 125 

Art  Galleries . 129 


Bancroft  House .  149 

Bartholdi  Fountain,  The .  88 

Battle  Cemetery . 183 

Baudin . 30 

Penning  Races . 194 

Bicycles .  12 

Bierstadt,  Albert .  28 

Bladensburg . 194 

Battlefield . 194 

Blaine  House . 154 

Boarding-houses .  13 

Botanical  Garden .  86  84 

British  Legation,  The .  155  156 

Brumidi,  Constantino .  22 

Bulwer  House,  The . 148 

Bureaus,  etc.: 

American  Republics .  112 

Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey .  80 

Engraving  and  Printing .  119  119 

Ethnology .  12! 

Geological  Survey . . 112 

Indian .  112 

Laud  Office .  , .  112 

Patent  Office . 110  111 

Pension . 110  111 

Weather . 121 


Cabin  John  Bridge . 193  193 

Catholic  University  of  America....  187 
Capitol,  The. 

Apotheosis  of  Washington,  The....  24 

Beginning  of  the .  16 

Brumidi’s  Canopy .  24 

Central  Portico . 19 

Cost . 18 

Crawford’s  Group .  18 

Cyrpt .  31 


PAGE 

Capital,  The  (continued) 

Discovery  of  the  Mississippi .  21  23 

Dome,  The .  24 

Early  Expectations .  79 

East  Front. .  8,  9 

Floor  Plan  of  the  Principal  S  ory  of 

the .  17 

Franzoni’s  Clock .  25 

From  the  Capitol  Grounds .  15 

Grounds . 15 

House  of  Representatives . .  28 

Bronze  Stairways .  29 

Eastern  Grand  Stairway .  30 

Hall  of  the  .  ...  28  29 

House  Basement.  . .  31 

House  Galleries . 2S,  30 

Mace  . 28 

Paintings  . .  28 

Portraits .  30 

Sub-basement .  31 

Western  Grand  Staircase .  29 

Landing  of  Columbus  at  San  Salva¬ 
dor,  The . 21 

Plans  and  Architects  .  16 

Representatives,  Original  Hall  of . . .  25 
“Rescue,  The,”  Greenough’s .  19 

Rogers  Bronze  Doors .  19  20 

Rotunda .  20 

Rotunda  Doors .  21 

Rotunda  Frieze .  22 

Rotunda  Statues  . 24 

Rotunda  Wall  Paintings .  21 

Senate,  Basement . 32 

Busts .  37 

Chamber .  32  33 

Chasm  of  the  Colorado,  The _  36 

Crawford  Bronze  Doors .  34 

Eastern  Staircase .  34 

Electoral  Commission,  The .  37 

First  Fight  of  the  Ironclads,  The  37  36 

Frescoes  in  Committee  Rooms  .  32 

Galleries . .  . 33,  36 

Grand  Canyon  of  the  Yel  ow- 

stone.  The . 36 

Marble  Room .  35 

Paintings  and  Portraits .  37 

Perry  at  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  34  35 

President’s  Room .  ^ 

Reception  Room .  35 

Vice-Presidents,  Busts  of .  33 

Vice-President's  Room .  35 

Weather  Service .  35 

Western  Staircase .  36 

Signing  the  Declaration  of  Independ¬ 
ence .  22  23 

State  Statues . 27 

Statuary  Hall . 26 

Statuary  Hall,  Acoustic  Curiosities.  27 
Statuary  Hall,  Old  Hall  of  Repre¬ 
sentatives  .  36 

Style  and  Dimensions . 18 

Supreme  Court,  Busts  of  Justices..  38 

Chamber .  37  38 

Robing-room .  38 

Undercroft .  32 

View  Looking  West  from  the .  84 

Washington,  Greenough’s  Statue  oU  16 
Western  Front .  39  6 


203 


204 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Capitol,  The  (continued). 

West  Front  at  Night,  Illuminated 


with  Search-lights .  79 

Westward  the  Course  of  Empire 

Takes  Its  Way .  29  31 

Cemeteries  : 

Arlington  National . 172 

Battle  . 184 

Congressional .  81 

Mt.  Olivet .  191 

Oak  Hill . 190 

Rock  Creek . 182 

Roman  Catholic .  184 

Soldiers’  Home . 182 

Census  Bureau . 110  112 

Center  Market .  87 

Chain  Bridge .  192 

Chapman,  John  Gadsby .  21 

Chesapeake  Beach . 194 

Chevy  Chase .  189 

Chinese  Legation,  New .  151 

Christchurch . 81,160  161 

Church  of  the  Covenant .  135  136 

Churches . 135 

City  Hall .  14 

Post  OflSce . 108 

Waterworks .  190 

Civil  Service  Commission .  112 

Clubs  . 137,  149 

Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey .  80 

Columbia  Athletic  Club .  137 

Columbian  University .  148 

Commissioners  of  Education . 112 

Commissions : 

Civil  Service .  112 

Fish . 126 

Conduit  Road .  190 

Congressional  Cemetery. .  81 

Connecticut  Avenue .  118 

Convention  Hall . . —  136 

Corcoran  Art  Gallery . . . 129 

Corcoran  Gallery  of  Arts,  The .  129 

Bronzes  and  Replicas .  131 

Charlotte  Corday  in  Prison .  130 

Description  of  Building. .  129 

Last  Days  of  Napoleon  1 .  131 

Marbles .  131 

Paintings . 130 

Portraits .  131 

Statuary  Hall .  128 

Tayloe  Collection .  131 

W.  W.  Corcoran . 129 

Cosmos  Club . 148 

Country  Roads . 181 

Court  of  Claims .  107 

Crawford,  Thomas .  18 


T\ead  Letter  Office .  107 

Museum  of . 108 

Decatur  House,  The .  146 

Departments: 

Agriculture .  120 

Interior .  108 

Justice . 107 

Commerce  and  Labor .  112 

List  of .  99 

Navy .  102  1 0 1 

Post  Office .  107,  108  109 

State .  99  loi 

Treasury .  102  103 

War....  .  100  101 

Dictionary  for  Visitors . 196 

Diplomatic  Corps,  The . 142 

Room,  Department  of  State.  113 

Distributing  Reservoir .  181 

District  and  Municipal  Affairs .  14 

Of  Columbia,  Origin  of .  13 

Institutions .  81 

Duddington  Manor .  "  79 

Dupont  Circle .  "  150 


Statue  of  Admiral  Samuel  F...  156 


PAGE 

TTarly’s  Raid . 181 

Eckington .  1^ 

Edgewood . 184 

Education,  Office  of  the  Commissioner  of  112 

Emancipation  Monument .  81 

Engraving  and  Printing,  Bureau  of .  119 

Etiquette,  Official .  139 

Everett  House,  The .  149 

Ewell  House . 146 

Excursions  About  Washington . 159 

Executive  Avenue .  152 

Departments . .  99 

Mansion .  91 

Proposed .  98 

Mis  Church .  179 

-L  Farragut,  Statue  of  .Admiral  David  G.  166 

Farragut  Square . 155 

Fish  Commission,  The  United  States...  126 

Force,  Peter .  45 

Ford’s  Theater .  88 

Foreign  Office .  100 

Fort  Foote . 160 

Lyon . 160 

Monroe,  Steamboat  to .  11 

Meyer . 178 

Totten .  183 

Sheridan .  163 

Stevens .  181 

Washington .  163 

Fourteenth  Street .  147 

Franklin  Square . 147 

Statue  of  Benjamin .  88 

Franzoni’s  Clock,  Capitol .  25 

Free  Public  Library . .  112 

French  Embassy . 149 

arfield.  Shooting  of  President .  14 

Statue  of  Pres.  James  A .  86  87 

Geological  Survey .  112 

Georgetown . 189 

Christ  Church . 160  16 1 

Interior .  160 

College  . 190 

History  of .  189 

Key  House .  189 

Union  Station . 189 

Gingko  Trees .  147 

Glen  Echo .  192 

Glen  Echo  Heights . 192 

Giesboro  Point .  162 

Government,  District .  14 

Hospital  for  Insane . 162 

Printing  Office .  112  133 

Grant  Gift  House . 157 

Grant’s  (General)  Headquarters . 102 

Grant’s  Monument .  85 

Great  Falls  of  the  Potomac .  193 

Greene,  Statue  of  Major-General  Natha¬ 
nael  .  80 

Greenough,  Horatio .  16 

Gridiron  Club .  137 

Gross  Monument .  125 

Hacks  and  Cabs .  12  134 

Halsall,  Wm.  F .  37 

Hancock,  Statue  of  General .  87 

Healy,  George  P.  A .  96 

Historic  Houses: 

Bancroft  House . 149 

Bulwer  House .  148 

Decatur  House .  146 

Duddington  Manor .  79 

Everett  House . 149 

Ewell  House .  146 

Madison  House .  145 

Octagon  House . 118 

Seward  House .  145 

Stockton  House . 149 

Sumner  House . 146 

Tayloe  House .  145 

Van  Ness  Mansion . 118 

Wirt  House . 150 


INDEX 


205 


PAGE 


History,  Early .  14 

Hospital  Square .  ol 

Hotels .  1^ 

Early .  87 

List  of  Principal . . i---  195 

Houdon,  Jean  Antoine .  26 

Howard  University .  183 

H  Street .  148 

Hunting  Creek . 16^ 

Inaugural  Balls . 119 

^  Indian  Office . . .  112 

Interior,  Department  of  the . 108 

Iowa  Circle . 157 

I  Street . 150 

Ivy  City  Kace  Track .  194 

Jackson,  Statue  of  President  Andrew..  144 
Justice,  Department  of .  107 


145 


K 


endall  Green .  194 

K  Street . 152 

112 


144 


67 

53 


Labor  and  Commerce,  Department  of. 

Lafayette  Memorial  Statue . 

Lafayette  Square . -  . 143 

Belasco  Theater,  Site  of..  144 

Land  Office,  General . 112 

Latrobe,  Benj.  H .  18 

Leutze,  Emanuel... .  29 

Library,  Free  Public .  112 

Library  of  Congress .  45  40,  41 

Administration .  74 

Aglaia . 

Alexander  Paintings .  57 

“  America  and  Africa  ” .  52 

Ancient  Games .  62 

Architecture  and  Style .  46 

“Arts  and  Sciences,*’  Cox’s... .  68 

Autographs  and  MSS.,  Historic -  65 

Barse  Paintings .  70 

Benson  Paintings .  66 

Book  Illustration  .  .  . .  69 

Bronze  Door  “  Tradition  ’’ .  51 

Care  of  Books .  75 

Ceiling . . .  52 

Comus .  54 

Copyright  Office .  75 

Corinthian  Arcades .  60 

Corridors .  61 

Decorations .  46 

Dodge  W.  de  L.  Paintings .  64 

Dome  and  Galleries . .  72 

Dome  Frescoes  Blashfield’s .  74 

“Human  Understand¬ 
ing’’  .  74 

Significance .  74 

Early  Books .  64 

“  Elements  ’’ .  69 

“Endymion’’ . 54 

Entrance . . .  46 

“  Europe  and  Asia  ’’ .  52 

Evolution  of  the  Book,  The . 

Family,  The .  59 

“  Fates,”  Mackay’s .  70 

First  Floor  Halls .  52 

Floor  Plans,  First  Story . 

Second  Story . 

From  the  Capitol 


45 


70 


Good  Administration .  59 

Government .  58 

Graces,  The .  67 

Grand  Staircase . 

House  Reading-room . 

Inscriptions .  65 

Librarian’s  Office .  59 

Lyric  Poetry .  52 

McEwen  Paintings  . 54 

Main  Entrance  Hall . 51,  70 

Main  Entrance  Hall  (Second  Floor). 

Mantel  in  House  Reading-room .  56 

Senate . 57 

Map-room .  60 

Martiny  Sculptures .  52 


71 

53 

57 

61 


42 

43 
40,  41 


58 

59 

50 

76 


54 


49 

55 

56 


73 


62 

62 

62 

62 

62 


47 


68 


FAOE 

Library  of  Congress  (continued). 

Maynard  Paintings . -  69 

“Minerva” . . - .  71  44 

Modern  Games .  67 

“Muses,”  Simmons’- .  60 

North  Corridor,  Second  Story,  Main 

Entrance  Hall .  <8 

Northeast  Pavilion .  65 

Northwest  Pavilion .  64 

Origin  of .  45 

Pearce  Paintings .  59 

Periodical  Reading-room .  57 

Perry  Fountain .  50 

Perry’s  Sibyls . 62,  67 

Philosophy . .  72 

Plaques . - .  69 

Pompeiian  Dancing  Girls,  Dodge’s,  60 

Pompeiian  Panels .  61 

“Courage” . .  61 

“Fortitude” .  61 

“Justice” .  61 

“Patriotism” .  61 

Portico .  50 

Printers’  Marks .  61 

Racial  Heads . 50 

Reading-room .  75 

Reid  Paintings . . .  62 

Representatives’  Reading-room .  55 

Restaurant .  75 

Rotunda  Entrance . 58 

Of  Public  Reading-room  . . 

Statues .  73 

The .  72 

Sciences,  The . . . 

“  Seals,”  Van  Ingen’s .  65 

“  Seasons,”  Pratt’s .  64 

Second  Story  Rooms  and  Corridors.  60 

Senators’  Reading-room .  57 

Shirlaw  Paintings. .  66 

Southeast  Pavilion .  69 

Southwest  Pavilion .  69 

I’reasures .  64 

Trophies . 62 

Van  Ingen’s  Paintings .  71 

Vedder  Mosaic,  The .  71 

Paintings . . . 58 

Vestibule . . - .  51 

Vista,  A .  77 

Walker  Paintings .  54  70,  71 

War .  63  64 

“  War  and  Peace,”  Melcher’s .  63 

Lincoln  Relics . .  89 

Lincoln  Square . 81 

Little  Falls  of  the  Potomac . . .  189 

Logan,  Statue  of  Gen.  John  A. .  157 

Long  Bridge .  159 

Louise  Home .  153 

Luther,  Martin .  147 

TV/TcPherson  Square .  150 

McPherson  Statue .  150 

Madison  House .  145 

Mall,  The .  1^7 

Maltby  Building .  ^ 

Marshall  Hall . 161 

Marshall,  Statue  of  Chief  Justice  John. 

Massachusetts  Avenue .  153 

Meridian  Hill .  156 

Memory . , 

Metropolitan  Club . 149 

Metropolitan  Hotel .  87 

Mexican  Embassy . 

Moran,  Thomas .  36 

Mount  Olivet  Cemetery .  194 

Mount  Vernon .  163 

Municipal  Building .  89 

Electric  Railway,  Route  to . 159 

Estate,  The . 163 

Gardens .  167 

Mansion,  The .  166  165 

Attic .  172 

Banquet  Hall,  The .  ^  170 

Bedrooms .  •  172 


39 


186 


150 


206 


INDEX 


Mount  Vernon— The  Mansion  (continued). 

Central  Hall . 

Death  Chamber . 171 

Dining-room . r.'.'"*  169 

Interior . 168 

Library . 170 

Martha’s  Room .  171 

Music-room . 169 

Outbuildings  . ^ . 167 

Room  in  which  General  Wash¬ 
ington  died . 170 

Room  in  which  Martha  Wash¬ 
ington  died . 

Sitting-room . 169 

Western  Front . 167 

West  Parlor . 169 

River  Route  to .  161 

Washington,  Old  Tomb  of .  160 

Washington,  Tomb  of .  IC^^ 


PAGE 


168 


171 

171 


164 

166 


Vrational  Fair  Grounds . 19‘» 

National  Hotel .  87 

National  Military  Cemetery .  172 

National  Museum,  The .  126  123 

Costumes . 124 

Lectures . 1^ 

Old  Building . 125 

Personal  Reiics . 1^ 

Pottery . 125 

Rotunda . 124 

Naval  Hospital .  83 

Monument .  S6 

Observatory .  191 

Navy  Department  and  Museum . 89,  102  101 

Yard .  81 

Museum .  82  83 

Ordnance  Factories .  82 

Trophies .  82 

New  Hampshire  Avenue .  157 

Norfolk,  Steamboat  to .  11 

Numbering  Currency  Notes .  120 


/^ak  Hill  Cemetery .  190 

Oak  Hill .  187 

Octagon  House,  The .  118 

Official  Etiquette  at  the  Capital .  139 

Cabinet  Precedence . 141 

Cabinet  Receptions .  141 

Calling  Days .  142 

Card  Reception . 139 

Dinner  Formalities .  140 

Diplomatic  Corps,  Social  Rules  in..  142 
Formalities  at  the  White  House....  139 

Local  Society  Features .  139 

Official  Season .  139 

President’s  Hours .  141 

Public  Receptions .  140 

Reception  Ceremony .  140 

Rules  for  Dress . 141 

Vice-President .  141 

Old  Capitol  Prison .  80 

Ordnance  Factories .  82 


Palmer,  Erastus  Dow .  27 

Patent  Office . 110  IJ  1 

Payne,  John  Howard . . . 187  187 

Peale,  Charles  Wilson .  36 

Pennsylvania  Avenue .  85 

Pension  Office . 110  ill 

Population .  14 

Post  Office,  General . 107',  108 

New .  107  109 

Potomac  River  Excursions . 161 

Powell,  Wm.  H .  21 

Powers,  Hiram .  30 

Pratt,  Bela  L . 72,  73 

President’s  Grounds .  93 

Public  Carriages .  12 

Public  Printer . 112 

■pailroads  and  Station .  n 

Rawlins,  Statue  of  General .  87 

Redemption  Office . 106 


“  Red  Top,” . 

Residences,  Prominent . J.'.'J 

Blaine  House . 

Depew,  Chauncey  M..'.^l.. 

Dewey,  Admiral . 1’" . 

Foraker,  Senator  J.B . 

Grant,  Mrs.  U.  S . 

Hale,  Senator  Eugene . y. . 

Leiter,  L.  Z.,Esq . y*"  " 

Restaurants . **” 

Rhode  Island  Avenue . 

Rock  Creek  Church . 

Cemeteiy . 

“  Grief  by  St.  (jaudens 

Memorial  Statues . 

“  Memory  by  Partridge 
“Payne,”  John  Howard, 

_  Monument . 

Rogers,  Randolph . 


PAGE 


192 

149 

154 


12 

157 

185 

185 

186 


149 

168 

162 

164 

162 

167 


186 

186 


187  187 

19 


Qcheffer,  Ary .  28 

^  Scott  Circle .  153 

Scott,  Statue  of  General . . .  154 

Seventh  Street . ’’J.'  ^^7 

Seward  House,  The . 145 

Sheridan  Gate,  The 

Shops . .v.v.'.v.v.v.  13 

Sixteenth;  Street .  152 

Smithsonian  Institution . I..”".!  121 

Bureaus .  123 

Plan  and  Scope . 122 

Social  Formalities  at  Official  Horses....  142 

Soldiers’  Home . . 

History  of . 185 

St.  John’s  Episcopal  Church . 

Stanton  Square .  go 

State,  Department  of . 99 

State  Library  and  Relics . 100 

Statues : 

Haguerre .  126 

Dupont,  Adm.  Samuel  F . 156 

Emancipation  Monument .  81 

Farragut,  Adm.  David  G . 

Franklin,  Benjamin .  88 

Garfield,  President  James  A . 

Greene,  Maj.-Gen.  Nathaniel . I  80 

Gross,  Dr  S.  D . 125 

Hancock,  Gen.  Winfield  S .  87 

Henry,  Prof.  Joseph .  121 

In  the  Capitol .  27 

Jackson,  President  Andrew .  144 

Lafayette  Memorial . 

Lincoln,  A . 14,  81 

Logan,  John  A .  157 

Luther .  147 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice  John . 

McPherson,  Major-Gen.  Jas.  B.- _ 150 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield* .  154 

Rawlins,  Major-Gen.  John  A .  87 

Thomas,  Gen.  George  H . 

Washington,  George . 16,  26 

Steamboat  Landing .  n 

Steamboats . "  n 

Stockton  House .  149 

Stone,  Horatio .  24 

Storied  Houses .  151 

Street  Cars .  n 

Streets,  Arrangement  of .  13 

Stuart,  Gilbert  Charles .  30 

Suburban  Lines .  12 

Suburban  Towns .  184 

Sumner  House,  The .  146 

rpayloe  House .  145 

Tennallytown . 191 

Theaters . . 136 

Thomas  Circle . 147 

Thomas,  Statue  of  Gen.  (jeo.  H . 

Toner,  J.  M .  45 

Treasury,  The . 102 

Branches  of .  107 

Cash  Room .  105 

Currency  Destruction  Committee... 

Cutting  the  Sheets . 104 

Department . 102 


j  153 
1  185 

178 

122 

183 

135 

101 


155 

87 


145 

144 


39 

i  153 
]  185 

147 

11 


147 

103 

106 

103 


INDEX 


PAGE 


207 


Treasury,  The  (continued). 

Expert  Counting . 105 

Maceration . 106 

Paper  for  Securities .  104 

Redemption  Office . 105 

Treasury  Notes . 104 

Tunlaw  Heights .  192 

Universities. 

Georgetown .  190  190 

Catholic .  186 

Geo.  Washington . 148 

Howard _  - .  183 

Union  Railway  Station . .  11 

■^anderlyn,  John .  21 

»  Van  Ness  Mansion,  The . 118 

Venus  of  Melos .  133 

aggaman  Gallery,  The . 131 

Walker,  James .  36 

War  Department .  100  101 

Washin^on  Barracks .  162 

Washington 

Bird’s-eye  View,  looking 
east  from  Washington 

Monument .  114 

Bird’s-eye  View,  looking 
north  from  Washington 

Monument .  138 

Circle . 157 

Defenses  of . 179 

Old  Tomb  of .  166  164 

Statues  of  George  . 16,  26  11 

Tomb  of . 164  166 

Washington’s  Mansion  at  Mount 

Vernon .  166  165 

Washington  Monument . 115  117 

Dimensions .  115 

Grandeur . 115 

History . 115 


PAGE 

Washington  Monument  (continued). 

Interior . 116 

Northwestern  Outlook .  118 

Scene  Toward  the  Capitol . 118 

View  Down  the  Potomac .  . 118 

From  Arlington  .  l^^S 

From  the  Top .  116 

Up  the.Potomac . 118 

Water  Works,  of  the  City .  193 

Weather  Bureau .  121 

Forecasting .  121 

Weir,  Robert  W .  21 

Wesley  Heights .  188 

White  House,  or  Executive  Mansion  ...  91 

New .  98 

White  House .  91 

Blue  Room .  94  96 

Cabinet  Room . 97 

Doorkeepers .  93 

East  Room . 94  96 

Egg-rolling .  93 

Green  Room .  94 

History . 91 

In  Line  on  a  Reception  Day .  93 

Lafayette  Square,  from .  91 

North  Front .  93 

President’s  Grounds .  93 

Office .  97 

Red  Room .  96 

South  Front .  90 

State  Dining-i'oom .  97 

Washington,  Portrait  of .  94 

Whitney,  Anne .  27 

Winder  Building . 102 

Willard  s  Hotel .  89 

Wirt  House,  The .  150 

Woodley  Heights . 191 

M.  C.  A .  137 

Zoological  Park . 188 

Animals . 188 


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The  Real  Estate  Title 
Insurance  Company 

The  Columbia  Title 
Insurance  Company 


OFFICERS 

The  Columbia  Title 
Ins.  Co. 

W.  E.  EDMONSTON,  President. 

JOHN  D.  COUGHLAN,  Vice-President, 
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WITH  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Price  25  Cents 

Printed  flatter  Concerning  Boston  Hotels 
Sent  on  Request 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  CO. 

CHICAGO  AND  NEW  YORK 


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Routing  and  Controlling 


Traveling  Salesmen 
Systematized 

-HJ^JKjand=McJ^aUy 

jdercantile  *Rjecording 

System 


Manufacturing  and  jobbing  houses  have  always  found  the  suc¬ 
cessful  management  of  their  agents  and  traveling  men  a  most 
complex  and  difficult  problem.  This  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to 
the  natural  disposition  of  salesmen  to  trespass  upon  each  other’s  territory, 
particularly  where  towns  of  considerable  importance  are  situated  in  close 
proximity  to  the  dividing  line. 

In  addition  to  this,  and  of  still  greater  importance,  is  the  manner  in 
which  salesmen  (if  not  carefully  and  constantly  watched)  will  skip  the  less 
promising  towns  in  their  field  in  order  to  reach  the  larger  places. 

While  such  tactics  may  result  in  a  larger  volume  of  business  in  a  limited 
time,  they  can  not  in  the  end  succeed,  because  they  leave  the  territory  only 
partially  worked,  while  no  commensurate  saving  in  transportation  or  other 
expenses  is  effected. 

These  and  other  evils  of  a  like  nature  well  known  to  every  manager  are 
important  factors  in  the  problem,  and  the  only  means  of  overcoming  them 
is  to  replace  the  complicated  and  inadequate  methods  generally  employed, 
in  the  sales  department  with  a  simpler  and  more  effective  system. 

The  Rand- McNally  Mercantile  Recording  System 
is  an  appliance  specially  designed  to  meet  these  requirements.  With  it  the 
boundaries  of  agents’  and  traveling  men’s  territories  are  so  plainly  mai  ked 
with  colored  cords  as  to  render  confusion  impossible.  Every  town  to  be 
visited  is  indicated  by  a  tack  of  a  color  to  represent  the  salesman  in  whose 
territory  it  is  located,  thus  each  man  is  confined  to  his  own  field  and  unless 
he  visits  every  town  indicated  the  fact  is  at  once  revealed  to  the  operator 
of  the  system. 


Write  for  Special  M.  R..  S.  Catalogue. 


Novelty  Advertising 


brings  results.  Our  Advertising 
Novelty  Department  is  prepared  to 
get  up  anything  special  you  may 
require,  and  our  calendars,  blotters, 
map-hangers,  booklets,  and  mailing- 
cards  are  all  business  pullers.  Infor¬ 
mation,  samples  and  quotations  sent 
on  request.  Our  representative  in 
your  locality  will  be  pleased  to  call. 

Rand  McNally  &  Co. 

40  East  22d  Street,  New  York  City 


ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT 

SALESMEN  WANTED 


flSBUior  babk 

'  NEW  JERSEY 

SUMMER-- WINTER  RESORT 


FIFTH  AVENUE 


Hotel  Parl^  View 

One  block  from  ocean  on  Atlantic  Square.  Rooms:  Single  or  en  suite  with  bath, 
elevator  service,  capacity  300.  Special  rates  June  and  September.  Evening  Dinners. 

LLOYD  EVANS,  Manager 


Asbury  Parl^ 


Beauty  spot  of  the  North  Jersey  Coast, 
Where  Country  Meets  the  Sea. 
Absolutely  free  from  mosquitoes  and  maJaria.  Salt-water  pool  and 
baths  open  all  year.  Two-mile  boardwaJk,  mainy  pavilions.  Edouarde’s 
band  and  other  faimous  musical  organizations  daiily:  200  hotels:  many 
trains  via  Pennsylvania  and  Jersey  Central  railroads.  Literature  free 
by  writing  Municipal  Information  Bureau,  900  Boardwalk. 


Hotel  Thedford 

6th  AVENUE,  Near  Ocean 


FAMILY  HOTEL 

Rooms  with  or  without  bath 
Excellent  Service  Booklet 


HARRY  DUFFIELD,  Owner  and  Proprietor  NORTH  ASBURY  PARK,  N.J. 


TO  MENTION  AN  ASBURY  PARK  GARAGE 


ZACHARIAS  GARAGE  CO.,  Main 


is  to  suggest 

“ZACHARIAS” 

The  town  is  one  of  the  finest  along  the 
Jersey  shore,  while  the  Individual  tries  to 
run  the  best  gauage  in  the  State. 

Street,  Cor.  Sewall,  ASBURY  PARK,  N.  J. 


The  Fenimore 

213  SECOND  AVENUE 
ASBURY  PARK,  N.  J. 

PRIVATE  BATHS 
ELEVATOR 


SEND  FOR  BOOKLET 


THOS.  NOBLE 


Owner  and  Proprietor 


Write 

Rand  McNally  &  Co. 


for 


Hotels  Rates  and  Descriptive  Booklets 


KODAKS 


Photographic  Outfits 

and  Supplies  of  Every  Description 

E.  J.  PULLMAN, 

420  Ninth  Street, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


OLDEST  HOUSE.  Established  1875.  LARGEST  STOCK. 

We  supply  everything  used  in  making  photographs,  and  all  styles  of  Kodaks 
?knd  Cameras.  Developing  and  finishing  for  amateurs  a  specialty. 


HERALD  SQUARE  HOTEL 

EUROPEAN  PLAN 

Thirty-Fourth  Street  Just  West  of  Broadway  New  York  City 

NEW.  FIREPROOF. 


One  block  from  New  Penn. 
R.  R.  Station.  Baggage 
free  to  and  from.  One 
block  from  33rd  Street 
Station  of  Hudson  Term¬ 
inal  Routes,  Connecting 
with  all  Railroads  Enter¬ 
ing  Jersey  City  and  D.  L. 
&  W.  R.  R.  and  Steamers 
docking  at  Hoboken,  and 
convenient  to  N.  Y.  Cen¬ 
tral  and  N.  Y.,  N.  H.  & 
Hartford  R.  R. 

Room,  with  privilege  of  bath,  $1.50  per  day  and 
upwards.  Room,  with  private  bath,  $2.00  per  day  and 
upwards.  Restaurant  a  la  carte.  Popular  club 
breakfasts. 

^"^^mideraid^  Wildcy  &  Son,  Props. 


COSMOPOLITAN  HOTEL 

CHAMBERS  ST.  AND  WEST  BROAD WAY==NEW  YORK 

EUROPEAN  PLAN 

Rooms  $1.00  per  day  and  upwards  and  special  rate  by 
the  week.  Convenient  to  wholesale  district.  Spa¬ 
cious  Restaurant  and  Lunch  Rooms.  Popular  prices. 
Easy  of  access  from  all  railroad  stations  and  ferries. 

C.  F.  Wildey  &  Son,  Props. 


Hudson  River  by  Daylight 

The  Most  Charming  Inland  Water  Trip  on  the  American  Continent 


THE  PALACE  STEEL  STEAMERS 

“Hendrick  Hudson,”  “Robert  Fulton”  and  “Albany” 

OF  THE 

HUDSON  RIVER  DAY  LINE 

Leave  New  York  Daily,  except  Sunday,  from  Desbrosses  Street  Pier,  8.40  a.  m.; 
Forty-second  Street  Pier,  N.  R.,  9.00  a.  m.;  W.  129th  Street  Pier,  9.20  a.  m. 

From  Albany,  8.30  a.  m. 

ALL  SERVICE  DAILY  EXCEPT  SUNDAY 

Landings— Yonkers,  West  Point,  Newburgh,  Poughkeepsie,  Kingston  Point, 

Catskill  and  Hudson 

DIRECT  CONNECTING  TRAINS  ON  WHARFS  FOR  ALL  POINTS  IN  CATSKILLS. 
SARATOGA,  AND  LAKE  GEORGE,  AND  EASY  CONNECTIONS. 

TICKETS,  AND  BAGGAGE  CHECKED  FOR  ALL  PRIN¬ 
CIPAL  POINTS  EAST,  NORTH  AND  WEST 

The  superb  steamers  “Hendrick  Hudson,’’  “Robert  Fulton,”  and 
“Albany”  of  the  Day  Line,  are  the  fastest  in  the  World,  and  are  the  finest 
of  their  class  afloat.  They  are  designed  exclusively  for  passenger  service, 
and  carry  no  freight.  Their  rich  furnishings,  costly  paintings,  private 
parlors,  and  main  deck  dining-rooms,  commanding  the  river  scenery,  have 
given  them  a  world-wide  renown. 

TICKETS  VIA  “DAY  LINE”  ON  SALE  AT  ALL  OFFICES 

All  Railroad  tickets  between  New  York  and  Albany  are  available  for 
passage  on  Day  Line  Steamers 

See  Time  Tables  for  Ideal  One-Day  and  One-Half-Day  Outings  from  New  Yo^'t 

SEND  5  CENTS  FOR  A  COPY  OF  SUMMER  EXCURSION  BOOK 

ATTRACTIVE  DAILY  OUTINGS  (EXCEPT  SUNDAY) 

TO  WEST  POINT,  NEWBURGH,  AND  POUGHKEEPSIE 

F.  B.  HIBBARD,  General  Passenger  Agent 
Desbrosses  Street  Pier,  New  York  City 

ANNOUNCEMENT— “Mary  Powell”  (Kingston  Boat)  service  opens  May  23th, 
leaving  Desbrosses  Street,  1.45  P.  M. :  W.  42d  Street,  2.00  P.  M. ;  W,  laoth  Street, 
2.20  P.  M.  On  July  ist  the  Day  Line  Steamer  “Albany”  will  resume  the  Spe¬ 
cial  Service  to  Poughkeepsie  and  return,  leaving  New  York  landings  one 
hour  later  than  the  regular  morning  boat;  making  a  serv/re  to  Pough¬ 

keepsie  and  intermediate  landings.  See  Time  Tables. 


BIRD’S=E.YE, 


Map  of  New  York 

For  full  particulars  send  for  large  colored  maps 
and  other  information. 


With  compliments  of  the 

Broadway  Central  Hotel 

NEW  YORK 
DAN.  C.  WEBB,  Prop. 


Broadway  Central  Hotel 

NOS.  667  TO  677  )  ^AN  C.  Webb,  Prop.  /  MIDWAY 

CORNER  >NE!\A/  YORK -^between  battery  and 
THIRD  STREET. )  ^  CENTRAL  PARK. 

Has  during  the  past  five  years  been  thoroughly  rebuilt  and  completely  reorganized  at 
an  expense  of  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars,  and  is  perfect  in  detail  and  unsurpassed  In 
comfort  and  convenience.  Kecommends  itself  for  its  thoroughly  careful  management,  Its 
clean,  -well-kept  rooms,  admirable  table  and  service,  and  reasonable  charges. 

LOCATION  ABSOLUTELY  UNE(HJALED  FOR  BUSINESS,  SIGHT-SEEING,  AND  PLEASURE. 

All  the  New  Rapid  Transit  Electric  Lines  passing  the  doors,  run  the  entire  length  of 
Broadway  from  the  Battery  to  Central  Park,  Grand  Central  R.  R.  Station,  Lenox  Avenue, 
Harlem  River,  High  Bridge,  and  Grant’s  Tomb,  passing  all  the  fashionable  stores,  theatres, 
and  principal  attractions  of  the  city. 

GRAND  CENTRAL  DEPOT  PASSENGERS  CAN  TAKE  SUBWAY  TRAINS  TO  BLEECKER  STREET, 
one  block  from  hotel,  or  Lexington  avenue  electric  cars  one  block  east  of  the  station, 
direct  to  or  from  the  hotel  to  42d  Street,  or  Fourth  Avenue  cars  direct  to  Astor  Place  or 
Bond  Street,  one  block  in  front. 

two  lines  of  elevated  RAILROADS:  Sixth  Avenue  Station,  Bleecker  Street,  one 
block  In  the  rear.  Third  Avenue  Station,  Houston  Street,  two  blocks  in  front. 

All  cross-town  cars  transfer  at  Broadway  with  the  electric  lines,  taking  guests  direct 
to  the  hotel. 

Passengers  arriving  by  any  of  the  ferries,  or  either  foreign  or  coastwise  steamers,  can 
take  any  cross-town  car,  or  walk  to  Broadway  and  take  electric  cars  direct  to  the  notel  or 
via  the  Sixth  or  Third  Avenue  Elevated,  stopping  at  Bleecker  on  Sixth  Avenue,  and 
Houston  Street  Station  on  Third  Avenue  line,  three  minutes  from  hotel. 

The  Central  will  be  run  on  both  the  American  and  European  Plan. 

The  Regular  Tariff  of  Charges  for  each  person  will  be 

For  Room  only,  -----  $1.00,  $1.50,  and  $2.00 

For  Room  and  Board,  -  -  -  $2.50,  $3.00,  and  $3.50 

For  Single  Meals,  -  --  --  --  -  75  cents 

Meals,  when  taken  with  rooms,  for  full  day.  60  cents  each 
Rooms  with  parlor  or  bath,  extra 

According  to  size,  location,  and  convenience,  and  whether  occupied  by  one  or  more  persons. 
SPECIAL  RATES  FOR  FAMILIES  OR  PERMANENT  QUESTS. 

FOR  FULL  PARTICULARS,  SEND  FOR  LARGE  COLORED  MAP 
FREE  AND  OTHER  INFORMATION  TO 


BROADWAY  CENTRAL 
HOTEL, 

NEW  YORK 


K 


FUTURE  ADMIRALS  IN  DRESS  PARADE  AT  THE  ACADEMY.  ANNAPOLIS.  MD, 


GALEN  HALL  by  the  sea 


HOTEL  and  SANATORIUM 
ATLANTIC  CITY  ::  N.  J. 


GALEN  HALL  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


A  FIRST  CLASS  HOTEL 
WERNERSVILLE,  ::  PA. 


F.  L.  YOUNG,  General  Manager 


THER’S 


Is  Not  Half  So  Soothing  to 
Baby  as 

Mrs. 

W  inslow’s 
Soothing 
Syrup 

As  Millions  of  Mothers 

Will  Tell  You. 

It  Soothes  the  Child, 

It  Softens  the  Gums, 

It  Allays  all  Pain, 

It  Cures  Wind  Colic, 

It  is  the  Best  Remedy  for  Diarrhoea, 

It  is  absolutely  harmless  and  for  over  sixty  years  has 
proved  the  best  remedy  for  children  while  teething. 

BE  SURE  YOU  ASK  FOR 

Mrs.Winslow’s  Soothing  Syrup 

AND  TAKE  NO  OTHER. 


SiclC,tlervbus 

/~v  ^ 

l^eur^ic 


^MersoN’S 


10  CENTS. 

KSUl 

Headaches. 


Headaches 


QUICKLY  CUBED  BY 


SOLD£y£PriV/f£PE. 


FOR  SALE  ON  ALL  TRAINS 


Continental  Hotel 

(M.  WALSH  DUNCAN.  Prop.) 

South  Tennessee  Ave.  ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J. 

One  Square  from  Penna.  R.  R.  and  Electric  Redlway  Depots.  Convenient  to  Beach 
Elevator.  Steam  Heat.  Electric  Light.  Capacity  500 
Open  All  the  Year.  Eleventh  Season 

$2.00  and  $3.00  Per  Day  Special  Weekly  Rates 


‘‘Queen  of  Sea  Routes” 

BETWEEN 

Boston,  Norfolk,  Newport  News  and  Baltimore 
Boston  and  Philadelphia 
Philadelphia,  Savannah  and  Jacksonville 
Providence,  Norfolk,  Newport  News  and  Baltimore 
Baltimore,  Savannah  and  Jacksonville 


Merchants  &  Miners  Trans.  Ge. 

STEAMSHIP  LINES 


Accommodations  and  cuisine  unsurpassed.  Send  for  particulars  and 

illustrated  booklet. 

Most  direct  route  to  Atlantic  City,  Old  Point,  Richmond,  Washington, 

Florida  and  Southern  points. 

THOS.  BARBER,  Traveling  Passenger  Agt.,  Boston,  Mass. 

C.  H.  MAYNARD,  Agent  JAS.  BARRY,  Agent 

Boston,  Mass.  Providence,  R.  I. 

W.  P.  TURNER,  Passenger  Traffic  Manager 

GENERAL  OFFICES.  BALTIMORE,  MD. 


“FINEST  COASTWISE  TRIPS  IN  THE  WORLD” 


In  Touch  with 
THE  NEWEST  BOOKS 

You  are  kept  in  immediate  and  constant  touch 
with  the  publishing  world  through  the 

Wanamaker  Book  Store 

It  is  as  complete  as  though  we  dealt 
exclusively  in  books. 

It  contains,  besides  standard  works  of 
all  classes  and  in  all  editions,  the  newest 
books,  of  whatever  order,  on  the  day  of 
their  publication. 

It  sells  more  books,  far  and  away,  than 
any  other  two  American  stores  combined. 

This  leads  to  another  important  fact — that, 


o 

whenever  special  lots  of  books  are  offered, 
our  immense  distributing  powers  make  it 

i 

0 

o 

possible  to  get  these  offerings  at  the  lowest 

O 

o 

possible  prices. 

o 

o 

Libraries  will  find  it  to  their  advantage 
to  keep  in  touch  with  us,  as  our  facilities 
for  filling  orders,  whether  large  or  small. 

6 

O 

are  better,  our  prices  lower  than  those  of 
any  other  house. 

We  issue  a  special  catalogue  of 
rare  editions  and  books  in  fine 
bindings,  mostly  bought  abroad. 

We  shall  be  glad  to  send  this,  as 
well  as  our  general  Book  Catalogue, 
free  on  request. 

JOHN  WANAMAKER 


PHILADELPHIA 


PARIS 


NEW  YORK 


/ 


JARVIS, 


TWO  135  Peaaa.  Ave.  N.  W. 
STORES  1429  Penna.  Ave.  N.  W 


^oubcnirs!  of  OTagljington 


ESTABLISHED 

1875  VISITORS  TO  WASHINGTON 

sliould  not  fail  to  visit  these  old  established  and  extensive  wholesahi 
and  retail  Souvenir  Stores. 

Here  they  will  tind  a  lar^e  line  of  novelties  in  jewelry — all  the 
newest  desi<.^ns,  and  most  acceptable  as  presents. 

Sterling  Silver  Souvenir  Spoons,  Souvenir  Post  Cards  and 
Post  Card  Albums,  Views  of  Washington, 

Photographic  Supplies,  View  Albums 

and  the  largest  and  most  varied  assortment  of  Souvenirs  and 
Novelties  in  the  United  States. 


HOTEL  YORK 


12  STORIES  OF  SOLID  COMFORT 

^  STRICTLY  FIRE  PROOF 

In  the  Heart  of  New  York 

CORNER  36th  STREET  AND  7th  AVENUE 

ONE  SHORT  BLOCK  TO  BROADWAY 


2  Minutes  From  New  Penna.  R.R.  Terminal 
10  M^utes  From  Grand  Central  Terminal 


Within  Ten  Minutes*  Walk  of 
30  LEADING  THEATRES  OF  NEW  YORK 

Three  Minutes*  Walk  to 
NEW  YORK*S  NEWEST,  LARGEST  AND 
FINEST  DEPARTMENT  STORES  AND 
FASHIONABLE  SHOPS 


ACCOMMODATIONS  BETTER  THAN 
RATES  INDICATE 

Attractive  Rooms  $1.50  and  $2.00  With  Bath  Privilege 

Attractive  Rooms  $2.00  to  $4.00  With  Private  Bath 
Parlor-Bedroom  and  Bath  in  Proportion 

'Where  Two  Perions  Occupy  the  Same  Room,  Only 
$1.00  Extra  Will  be  Added  to  Above  Rates 


RESTAURANT  PRICES  ARE  MINIMUM 
CONSIDERING  QUALITY  AND  SERVICE 

t  •  t 


H.  G.  WILUAMS,  Manager 


